Patna: The Janata Dal United on Sunday decided to raise the demand for special category status for Bihar more vigorously, saying there would be no compromise on what was a matter of the state's "pride", in what could become a cause of concern for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Two top JDU leaders - secretary general K.C. Tyagi and general secretary Pavan Varma - flew to Patna from New Delhi on Sunday to meet chief minister Nitish Kumar, the JDU national president. The duo remained closeted with Nitish at his 7 Circular Road residence through lunch, discussing a plethora of issues, including special category status, the forthcoming general election, division of the 40 Lok Sabha seats of the state among NDA parties, as well as upcoming Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.
"We will take our demand for special category status for Bihar further and more strongly. We are going to intensify it. After all, it is a question of Bihar's pride and there could be no compromise on it," Tyagi told The Telegraph after the meeting.
Tyagi said that there were no other concerns as "a leader of the stature of Nitish Kumar" was at the helm of affairs in Bihar, and was "working tirelessly for the state's development".
Varma, however, raised the distribution of Lok Sabha seats among NDA allies.
"It doesn't matter whether the Lok Sabha seats to be contested are divided among allies right now or later. What is important is that such distribution should ensure honour and respect for each of the allied parties," Varma said.
Varma, a former diplomat and Rajya Sabha member, added that the distribution of Lok Sabha seats should be done "be keeping in mind the role of JDU and Nitish's image".
The meeting of top JDU leaders came at a time when there are shouts and whispers that Nitish is unhappy over the shabby treatment meted out to Bihar by the central government over various development and disaster-relief related demands despite his switch from the Grand Alliance to the NDA.
Not only has the Narendra Modi government remained non-committal on Bihar's demand for special category status to fight backwardness, it also gave only Rs 1,200 crore to the state against its plea for compensation of Rs 7,636 crore for the devastating floods of 2017.
A senior JDU politician told The Telegraph under cover of anonymity that the party was unsheathing its potent and time-tested weapon in the form of the demand of special category status, and will bargain with the BJP over all developmental and political issues.
The JDU had contested 25 Lok Sabha seats and won 20 of them in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections when it was part of the NDA. The BJP at that time had contested just 15 seats and won 12. In the 2014 general elections, the JDU went solo and contested all 40 seats to win only two, while the BJP-led NDA grabbed 31 seats.
Another NDA constituent, Union minister of state Upendra Kushwaha's RLSP, also sent a message on Sunday that it would not "sacrifice" any seat, and Kushwaha asked for an NDA meeting on seat sharing for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections (see Page 3).
An NDA meeting is slated here on June 7.
