Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at Independence Day function in Patna on Thursday. (PTI)
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar used his Independence Day speech in Patna to transmit a clear message to the Centre - he said his state needs "special status," a tag that would entitle it, on account of its history of debilitating under-development, to massive financial assistance and loans from Delhi.
He also flashed a quick but not unexpected critique of his political rival, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, declaring that "In some development models, a few benefit but most other people do not gain. That is not our development model. We want all inclusive development and that is what we are doing here."
In Mr Kumar's speech, there was also more than just the foreshadowing of campaign elements for the national elections, due by May. The chief minister's effective scheme of free bicycles for young girls to attend schools has a sister act now - scholarships for all girls from classes 1 to 10, irrespective of the economic status of their families
The chief minister also reiterated an earlier promise- that if all towns in Bihar do not have uninterrupted power and all villages do not have 12 hours of power by 2015, he will not seek re-election as chief minister.
Mr Kumar's determined push for special status is being studied by the union government with cheerful and surging interest. He ended a 17-year alliance with the BJP in June, booting it out of the Bihar government. His party, the Janata Dal United currently has 20 Lok Sabha MPs and has said it intends to contest all 40 seats from Bihar in the general election. For the Congress, seeking a third consecutive term, Mr Kumar could be a weighty partner.