Nitish kicks off campaign, wants special status for Bihar

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Wednesday kicked off the Janata Dal-United's campaign for the Lok Sabha polls in West Champaran where he vowed to fight for special category status for Bihar.

"We will continue to fight for special status for Bihar and will not relax unless this is achieved. This is vital for Bihar's development," he told a rally.

Nitish Kumar said Bihar's long pending demand for special status was denied by the central government even as it granted it to Seemandhara, the residual state in Andhra Pradesh.

"It is a betrayal of the people of Bihar by the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government," he said.

Nitish Kumar said only a special status category would help Bihar to develop by attracting investors and creating more jobs.

He said Bihar's demand had been ignored since 2000 when Jharkhand was carved out of the state.

"Give us your support and votes... Our demand will be heard only when we become strong in Delhi," he said.

He said Bihar's per capita income, investment and electricity consumption were the lowest in the country and it also lagged behind in all human resource indices.

Bihar would take at least 25 years to touch the national average of economic growth without special category status, Nitish Kumar said.