Nitish: Capital mission

Patna, April 16: Chief minister Nitish Kumar has gone to New Delhi on what sources described as a “political mission” to work out strategy with his central party leaders to step up the demand for special category status to Bihar — a subject that figures high on his priority list.

Nitish did not reveal the reason for leaving Patna for New Delhi yesterday. His office said the chief minister had gone to the national capital for personal reasons.

Sources said Nitish met Janata Dal (United) national president Sharad Yadav in Delhi and discussed the strategy to be adopted in the monsoon session of Parliament for articulating the demand.

Evolving a new strategy, the sources said, is necessary after the suspension of the three party MPs — Lallan Singh, Uprendra Kushwaha and Manganilal Mandal — and restructuring of the parliamentary party.

Parliamentary party leader Ramsunder Das recently replaced Lallan Singh as the JD(U)’s deputy leader with Ranjan Yadav. Mandal, the erstwhile chief whip, has been replaced by Vaidyanath Mehta. The changes were carried out in consultation with the chief minister.

The sources believe that training the re-structured parliamentary party to step up the demand for special category status to the state was Nitish’s “top priority”. Moreover, he could also be wary of Lallan and Kushwaha roping in other dissident MPs to derail the party’s campaign in Parliament.

Nitish was believed to have discussed all these issues during his brief interaction with Sharad, the JD(U)’s chief. Moreover, Bihar does not fully fit into the criteria fixed by the Planning Commission under the Gadgil formula to get special category status. The BJP had yesterday said it would press for a change in the criteria to ensure Bihar fits the bill.

The chief minister, sources said, is at work to get the “necessary amendments” in the Planning Commission’s stipulations for according special category status to Bihar.

However, the chief minister is learnt to be more wary of the dissidents from his own party who could be at work to subvert his “mission”, even more than the Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) which, officially, has supported the special status demand.

The BJP has already announced its support to the demand. The RJD has agreed to join the chief minister in leading a delegation on the issue to the Prime Minister.