New Delhi:
With allies like the Samajwadi Party and the NCP keeping the UPA on the edge, the government seems to be warming up to Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United).
Sources have told NDTV that the government is looking into the Bihar Chief Minister's demand for special status for the state. The criteria for backwardness will be revised in the coming months and the issue is being looked into holistically for all states, sources add.
Just a week ago, Mr Kumar was in Delhi and met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram demanding special status for Bihar, which will entitle the state to loans and assistance from the Centre and tax waivers for industry set up.
Last Sunday, in his speech for an audience of nearly 50,000 people in Delhi, Mr Kumar did not refer once to his partner, the BJP, or to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) that it leads.
He had thanked the PM and Mr Chidambaram for stating that they will consider his demand for Bihar's special status. He also made it clear that his political allegiance in next year's general election will be forged by whether his request is accepted.
"Whoever empathizes with and helps backward states will come to power in Delhi" he said, warning that "if special status for Bihar is not granted now, you will have no choice but to implement it after 2014."
The Congress' acknowledgement that it is considering the chief minister's request - the Finance Minister referred to it when he presented the union budget in Parliament - has been interpreted as a sign of the party's wooing of Mr Kumar away from his alliance with the BJP.