Special status to backward states if non-BJP parties form govt, Nitish

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday announced that all backward states in the country will be granted special status if non-BJP parties form the government at the centre after the 2024 general election. "If we get an opportunity to form the government, we will surely give backward states special status. I am not just talking about Bihar, but also about other states that should get special status," he told the media in reply to a question in Patna.  The announcement comes in the backdrop of his recent visit to Delhi where he met several Opposition leaders in his bid to stitch together a united alliance of Opposition parties to take on Narendra Modi at the Centre.

Nitish Kumar has been demanding special status for Bihar since 2007. The issue has been strategically raised by the Janata Dal (United) leader, sometimes to score political points ahead of elections and at other times, to put pressure on ally BJP. If a state is granted special status, the centre-state funding ratio for centrally sponsored schemes is 90:10, much more favourable than the ratio for other states.Currently, there are 11 special category states in the country -- Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir (now a Union Territory), Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttarakhand.Although the Constitution does not provide for any state to receive special treatment compared to others, the Centre has over the decades extended special assistance to some states for a range of reasons including historical disadvantage, difficult or hilly terrain, nature of population (low density or a large share of tribals), strategic location along the border, economic or infrastructural backwardness, etc.

However, the demand may not go down too well with some of the participants who are expected to be a part of this umbrella alliance. Southern state parties for one have always resisted the fact that a larger share of tax revenue is doled out to poorer, more populous states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.