JD(U) heaps praise on Nitish

Raghuram Rajan panel report is a boost for Bihar's claim of special status

Happy over the Raghuram Rajan panel report for bracketing Bihar among backward states and thereby boosting its chances of getting the special status, ruling JD(U) today attributed the 'success' to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who championed the cause.

"It's due to the sustained efforts of CM Nitish Kumar that the Centre agreed to revisit the criteria for deciding backwardness of a state and the Raghuram Rajan panel report agreed that Bihar falls in that bracket," senior JD(U) leader Sanjay Jha told PTI.

Based on the Multi Dimensional Index (MDI), the committee named Odisha, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan as least developed states.

"It is because of continuous hard work of Kumar that nine other states have also benefitted... Bihar has won this because of he successfully carried the demand of the people of the state to the Centre," Jha, a close confidante of the CM, said.

Jubilation was seen at the JD(U) office here after news of the Rajan committee submitting the report to Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram spread.