New Delhi: The Janata Dal (United) has passed a resolution in its national executive meeting held in New Delhi on Saturday (June 29) reiterating its longstanding demand of special status for Bihar as well as a special economic package for the state.
“Our resolution includes both special status for Bihar as well as a special economic package. We will continue to fight for both,” said JD(U) political advisor and national spokesperson K.C. Tyagi while addressing reporters.
In November 2023, just months before he rejoined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in January, Nitish Kumar had promised a statewide agitation if the Union government did not grant special status to Bihar.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fell short of a majority on its own, winning 240 seats. It has had to rely on its NDA allies to form the government. Both the JD(U) which has 12 Lok Sabha seats and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) which has 16 seats are crucial allies for the BJP-led NDA government.
Earlier this month, after announcing its support for the BJP, Tyagi told to The Wire that while special status is a longstanding demand, it is not a precondition for the alliance.
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“Special category status has been a longstanding demand for us, but it is not a precondition for the alliance. We are happy to support this government. But we have not given up on the special status and we will be taking it up at a later stage,” he said.
After the JD(U) national executive meeting on Saturday, Tyagi once again said that during the meeting Nitish had reiterated that he will remain with the NDA and there is no question of switching sides.
“He has announced before the national executive that he will remain with the NDA and will not go right or left, there is no such question,” Tyagi said .
The party in its meeting has also decided to approach the Supreme Court against the Patna high court’s order striking down the Bihar government’s decision to increase reservation for Other Backward Classes(OBC), Extremely Backward Classes (EBC), Scheduled Castes (SC), and Scheduled Tribes (ST) from 50% to 65% in educational institutions and government jobs.
“It has also been decided that we will approach the Supreme Court against the high court order to strike down the Bihar government’s decision to increase reservations. To bring in efficiency in the working of the party, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Jha has been made the working president,” Tyagi said.
Special category status also led the TDP to pull out of the NDA in 2018 in the wake of the Modi government’s refusal to grant it to Andhra Pradesh. Like the JD(U), the TDP also returned to the NDA fold just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
