Patna, May 11: The Congress is keeping its cards ready in the ifs-and-buts scenario of coalition politics.

Union finance minister P. Chidambaram signalled today that the special category status to Bihar was on the cards, dropping enough hints that the Congress was going the “extra mile” to keep chief minister Nitish Kumar in good humour if the Janata Dal (United) parts ways with its 17-year-old ally, the BJP.

“A sub-committee headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s chief economic adviser Raghuram Rajan will be constituted within a week to lay down the new criteria for backwardness for according special category status to the states,” Chidambaram told reporters here, adding: “The sub-committee will submit its report within a month or two.”

Asked whether Bihar would fit into the new criteria for security in the special status, the finance minister, during a joint news meet with Nitish, said: “I am confident that Bihar will certainly qualify to get the status under the new criteria.”

Nitish’s key aide and party MP N.K. Singh also accompanied Chidambaram.

That Chidambaram has been a “key” to what is described as the emerging equation between the JD(U) and the Congress, came to the fore when the minister talked about “revisiting” the criteria for according special category status to states in the Economic Survey of India report (2013-14) and subsequently his budget speech. BJP leaders had smelt a “ploy” in Chidambaram’s extending an olive branch to Nitish while deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi described the budget speech as another instance of “neglect to Bihar”.

But Nitish, distancing himself from the strident criticism of the UPA dispensation by the BJP, has changed gear, and taken a softer strategy on the UPA on several issues of late. Nitish, who was quite categorical in “disqualifying” his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate at his party’s national executive meeting in New Delhi in March, heartily appreciated Chidambaram for talking about the special category status to Bihar in the economic survey report and his budget speech as well.

That the Congress was on the spree to woo Nitish and his JD(U) also became evident last month when the Centre increased the backward regions grant to Bihar from Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 12,000 crore against Nitish’s demand of Rs 20,000 crore.

Nitish forcefully championed his cherished demand for the special status to Bihar at his Adhikar rallies in Patna and New Delhi in September last year and March this year, respectively, but avoided attacking the Congress on either of the occasions.

Even after a panel headed by Planning Commission secretary Sudha Pillai rejected Bihar’s demand, the Congress and the JD(U) changed equations.

Today also, Chidambaram was quite categorical in asserting that Bihar would “certainly” fit into the new criteria being laid down to grant special category status. In what should sound like music to Nitish’s ears, Chidambaram said: “Bihar is on the fast track to development.”