Jairam: Nitish Only Talked, Must Act Now for Bihar’s Special Status

Amid the Janata Dal-United’s push for Special Status for Bihar, Congress on Monday criticized Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, stating that despite his ministers arguing that the latest analysis by Niti Aayog supports their demand for special category status, Kumar has done nothing about it.

They also called on the Bihar Chief Minister to take action, noting that he is now in a position to achieve this goal.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Congress leader Ramesh, who is also the party’s general secretary and communications in-charge, said, “Senior Ministers in Bihar are now arguing that Niti Aayog’s latest analysis vindicates their demand for special category status in the matter of Central assistance to the state. Basically, this would mean that instead of 70 percent of such assistance being a loan, only 10 percent would be.”

“But instead of giving press statements and passing resolutions in party meetings, what is the Bihar Chief Minister doing about this demand? He has talked and talked and talked while doing nothing about it. He is in a position to get it done now. He should strike. The same goes for the Andhra Chief Minister as well,” the Congress leader said.

His remarks came days after the JD-U passed a resolution at its party’s meeting late last month to press for the demand for special category status for Bihar and a special package.

JD-U has been demanding special category status for the state for years and has again put forth its demand to the BJP-led NDA government at the center.