Patna, May 11: JD (U)’s signature campaign seems to be working in favour of the party as till now the party has collected 45 lakh signatures across the state. The party has compared it with the JP Movement after witnessing its popularity.

The signature campaign has pledged to collect at least one crore signatures to build pressure on the central government to grant special economic status to Bihar. The collected signatures will be sent to President Pratibha Patil in the last week of June.

Commenting on the number of signatures, Bihar JD (U) president Vashisht Narayan Singh said: “Till now we have collected 45 lakh signatures and by June 10 we are hoping to collect at least one crore signatures and by June end, we will send it to the president.”

Speaking on the occasion, Singh said: “The signature campaign started by the party has received overwhelming response and all sections of people have taken part in the campaign. Youngsters too have actively supported the campaign. The response has certainly boosted the moral of the party. The participation of MLAs and ministers in the signature campaign has further added support to the party.”

While comparing the signature movement with JP Movement, Singh said: “After 1974, such kind of campaigns have started in Bihar and central government is watching it closely. Despite this, they have kept their eyes closed when the question of granting special status to Bihar comes up. Our state has gone through a bad phase and it has taken lots of effort by Nitish Kumar to bring it back on track. Development was never an issue before the Nitish regime as it was never on their priority list.”

To speed up the demand of special status, the party has also started a membership drive having a target of at least one lakh by next month. Taking up the issue of environment very seriously, a tree plantation drive will also be started by the party.