Nitish Kumar promises 'special category status' to all backward states if non-BJP parties form govt at Centre in 2024

Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government in the Centre, Bihar chief minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar, who served ties with the BJP and once again split with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), on Thursday said that a special category status will be granted to "all backward states" if he gets an opportunity to form the next government at the Centre through a united opposition alliance against BJP in 2024.

Nitish, who is attending a function in Patna, made the remark in a response to a question from journalists.   

"If we get an opportunity to form the government, we will surely give backward states special status. I am not just talking about Bihar, but also about other states that should get special status," he told the media in reply to a question. 

Speaking at a programme on rural street solar light schemes covering all village panchayats the CM said he had been demanding special status for Bihar since 2007 and PM Modi had assured this to him during the 2014 elections.

Nitish said, "had Bihar got special status, the state could have developed faster. Now Bihar is developing on its own resources."

Taking a dig at the BJP-ruled Central government, Nitish claimed that the Union government was not engaged in development activities in his state, "They are engaged only in campaign and advertisements," CM said.

What is special category status for states:

Special category status is a classification given by the Centre to assist the development of states that face geographical and socio-economic disadvantages.

As per the information provided by the NITI Aayog, 11 states namely, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttarakhand were granted special category status by the Central government. 

Nitish split from NDA:

Nitish Kumar in August this year severed ties with the BJP in Bihar and joined hands with the RJD, reviving the opposition Mahagathbandhan forming a new government in the state with support from Tejashwi Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress.

He had deserted the NDA for the first time in 2013 after Narendra Modi became the coalition's Prime Ministerial candidate.

(with PTI inputs)