Nitish Kumar addressing the rally on Sunday.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram today to press for his demand of granting special status to the state. He met Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
The issue was the focus of Mr Kumar's
Adhikar rally in the national capital on Sunday where he signalled that no political combination should think of ruling Delhi after the 2014 elections if it ignored Bihar's rights.
"Give Bihar special status now, else after 2014 you will have to give it for sure. Only those will be allowed to rule Delhi who take care of the backward areas," Mr Kumar told an energetic crowd of an estimated 50,000 people at his Adhikar rally on the Ramlila grounds. (
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Mr Kumar said Bihar has been treated unfairly by successive union governments and the time has come to give the state its dues. "Our fight is not only for Bihar, but for all backward states. The Prime Minister has praised the growth that Bihar has shown in recent years. If we get special status, we can contribute more to the country's growth rate," he said. (
Read: Highlights of Nitish Kumar's speech)
Lok Sabha elections are due only next year, but the Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) leader's statement appears to be sensitive to the political scenario that may emerge after the 2014 polls. The JD(U) is a key member of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), but is averse to Narendra Modi, whom many in the BJP have been pitching as the coalition's ideal prime ministerial candidate.
The JD(U), which did not invite the BJP for today's rally, has in the past threatened to walk out of the NDA if Mr Modi is made the prime ministerial candidate. Speculation about the JD(U) warming up to the Congress has also been in the air often.