“Union budget is historic for the developed states, but it is disappointing for Bihar. Union Finance Minister @nsitharaman has disappointed all residents of Bihar by ignoring the demand to grant special category status to the state,” JD(U)’s national parliamentary board chairman and former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha tweeted in Hindi soon after the Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman finished her budget speech in the Lok Sabha.
The Union Budget is historic for developed states, but disappointing for Bihar. Finance Minister Smt @nsitharaman… https://t.co/znM2pUuuGU
— Upendra Kushwaha (@UpendraKushJDU) 1643699397000
Kushwaha has posted his tweet with a hashtag, “Desh Ke Pradhan, Bihar Par De Dhyan’ (the head of the country, please give attention to Bihar).”
Reacting over the Union budget, JD(U) state president Umesh Kushwaha said, “Though the budget presented by Union finance minister N Sitharaman is ‘praiseworthy’ because it presents a blueprint for the next 25 years, our demand to grant the special category status to Bihar is still alive.”
“Bihar is eligible from all angles to get the special category status. We have been continuously raising this demand before the Union government. If Bihar gets the status of special category state or a special economic package, the development works of CM Nitish Kumar would get faster,” Kushwaha told TOI.
The JD(U) state president also pointed out that a new scheme- the Pradhan Mantri Purvottar Vikas Yojana – is being launched for the northeastern states. For this, an initial provision of Rs 1,500 crore is being made. “On the same pattern, if some special attention would have been given on Bihar in the Union budget, we would have been happier,” Kushwaha said.
Party’s spokesperson and former MLC, Ranbir Nandan said, “We had a very high hope that the Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman would give some decision in the direction of granting special category status to Bihar in this budget. But, we are once again disappointed.”
Nandan also said the Bihar government has sped up all development works under the able leadership of CM Nitish Kumar. If the state gets the special category status, the development projects would be implemented more effectively.
JD(U) state secretary Santosh Kushwaha said the denial of special category status to Bihar in the Union budget has disappointed all people in Bihar. He said the JD(U) would keep raising this demand before the Centre.
Earlier on Monday, JD(U) made a fresh pitch for grant of special category status to Bihar on the eve of the presentation of the Union budget.
JD(U)’s national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh came out with a series of two tweets wherein he sought grant of special category status to the state on the plea of its backwardness.
“Bihar has been maintaining a double digit growth rate for the last one-and-a-half decade under the able leadership of chief minister @NitishKumar. Still, the state is in the phase of backwardness due to different reasons. … Therefore, we all have been continuously demanding the status of a special category state to Bihar from @PMOIndia Shri @Narendramodi in the interest of the people of Bihar. Both the houses of Bihar Legislature have already passed a unanimous resolution in support of the demand,” Lalan said in his tweets posted in Hindi, on Monday. The JD(U) chief also tagged PM Modi and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar with his tweets.
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