Patna: Former Lok Sabha speaker and senior Congress leader Meira Kumar on Friday slammed the JD(U) leadership and CM Nitish Kumar over their demand for special status to Bihar.
The move came a day after three senior JD(U) ministers made a strong pitch for special category status to Bihar or at least a special financial package to the state. Highlighting the irony of the CM’s party, Kumar said, “JD(U) is aligned with the Narendra Modi govt at the Centre and still is toiling so hard to get its own demand (of special category status to be granted to Bihar) fulfilled.”
Claiming that neither the Modi govt did anything for the people in the state nor took Nitish seriously, she said, “The PM should have given special status to Bihar soon after forming the NDA govt at the Centre but he didn’t take care of his own ally too.If the PM can’t do this, it is very sad for the state.”
Shifting her focus towards the bridges that have collapsed in the state during the monsoon season, Kumar said that ‘people have luckily escaped unhurt.’ Seeking a high-level probe into the matter, she said, “Kendra aur Rajya me jo shasan kar rahe hain, wo Bihar ko dhwast kar rahe hain. (The state and central govt are destroying Bihar.” More than 12 bridges have collapsed in the state in the past three weeks.
Meanwhile, JD(U) chief spokesperson KC Tyagi said that his party has been constantly raising the issue of special status since 2005 when the UPA govt was in power at the Centre and even submitted a memorandum to the then PM but nothing came out of this.
“There is not a single day when we didn’t raise this issue but we are hopeful that there will be certain provisions in the coming Union budget which will ensure unexpected financial assistance to Bihar,” Tyagi told TOI on Friday.

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