Centre denying special status for Bihar evokes cryptic response from Nitish

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday came out with a cryptic response to the Centre's refusal to grant special category status to the state.

Kumar, whose JD (U) is a key ally of the ruling NDA at the Centre, was asked about the Union government's statement in Parliament the day before.

"You will get to know all things slowly, and slowly (sab kuchh dhire dhire jaan jaaiyega)," the longest-serving CM of the state said, in reply to a volley of questions he faced from journalists at the Bihar Assembly.

Flashing his trademark smile of ambiguity, the veteran leader rushed inside the House, waving at the posse of journalists that stood trying to read his impregnable mind.

Notably, after the Lok Sabha polls in which the BJP fell short of majority, becoming heavily dependent on allies, the JD (U) had held a national executive meeting where a resolution was passed raising a fresh demand for special status.

Leaders of the JD (U), which has two ministers in the Union government, insist that the resolution also spoke of "special package and other types of help" and that Bihar could still get a lot from Narendra Modi government.

However, opposition leaders in the state think Bihar has been taken for a ride. Kumar's arch-rival Lalu Prasad, the RJD president, feels that the JD (U) supremo should resign.

Incidentally, Kumar had junked the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan, the Bihar prototype of INDIA bloc that he had helped form, in January this year to return to the BJP-led NDA.