Patna: The RJD has questioned chief minister Nitish Kumar for his on-and-off demand for special category status to Bihar.
Both leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Tejashwi Yadav and RJD vice-president Shivanand Tiwari on Monday raised doubts over Nitish's "intentions" on special status.
Tiwari said the demand was never on Nitish's priority list and the statements of Janata Dal United leaders pressing for special category rang hollow. He was reacting to the statement of JDU Rajya Sabha member R.C.P. Singh that denial of special category status for Bihar by the Narendra Modi government amounted to injustice.
"The reason for raising the issue of special status category after leaving the Grand Alliance has nothing to do with Nitish's concern for Bihar. It is all because of the bypoll results in Araria and Jehanabad. He (Nitish) has realised that the ground is slipping under his feet because the victory margins were huge. Nitish has changed his posture and language after the bypoll results," Tiwari said.
The RJD veteran said Nitish made his alliance with the BJP for the first time on his own terms. "Why did Nitish Kumar not include the condition of special status for Bihar when he rejoined the BJP this time?" Tiwari said.
The RJD leader added that Nitish, before rejoining the BJP, had negotiated his stand on three issues. Nitish had said that Article 370 (special status to Jammu and Kashmir) will not be abolished and uniform civil code will not be imposed. Besides, the issue of the Babri mosque has to be solved either through a court order or through mutual consensus between the parties concerned.
"In Karnataka on Sunday, Nitish repeated his three principles. I want to ask why Nitish did not make the agreement with the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he will form the alliance only when Bihar gets special status category the way he did an agreement on article 370, uniform civil code and Babri Masjid issues," Tiwari said.
While addressing a public rally in Karanataka's Channagiri, Nitish said he will not compromise on the issue of communalism, crime, and corruption apart from reiterating his previous common minimum programme.
Attacking Nitish, Tiwari said, "Nitish had no problem with the BJP but he broke the alliance because of Narendra Modi, calling him a divisive person. Nitish used to say that the people of the minority community get scared if someone is named Narendra Modi. Nitish once said that power is ideological commitment, not remaining in the post. Where has the ideological commitment gone now?"
