Nitish Kumar demands special status for Bihar at Adhikar rally

In a bid to put more pressure on the Centre to grant special economic status to Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar addressed a huge gathering as part of his ‘Adhikar’ rally in Patna today. Kumar in his address said, “I have requested the PM to grant special status to Bihar several times, but to no avail, he is too busy to listen.” People from across the state turned at the historic Gandhi Maidan in Patna. Special trains had been booked by Janata Dal (United) party so that its supporters from across the state get easy access to the venue. Security has also been intensified in the Bihar capital. [caption id=“attachment_513951” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Nitish Kumar. Reuters[/caption] Patna has been painted green, thanks to all the banners, hoardings and billboards of JD(U) occupying every inch of open space in the city. The cost incurred to organise the  mega rally, however, is enormous. As per rough estimates, over Rs 50 crore has been spent on it. Eight trains and 20,000 buses have been booked for ferrying people from far flung areas, which alone cost Rs 17 crore. The money spent on food and lodging for 5 lakh participants could be astronomical, reports CNN-IBN. The party has launched a special website www.biharadhikarrally.com which would provide live video from the rally. Those sitting in their homes in any part of the globe would have the opportunity to see the rally live on the internet. The Opposition, however, has cried foul. The rally is being seen as a blanat attempt at muscle flexing by Nitish ahead of the 2014 General Elections. It has also seen its share of controversies like the one over posters of controversial JD(U) leaders, and allegations of extortion. With Patna’s roads likely to be clogged for the next two days, it could very well end up irking the city residents too.