Modi's work for Bihar a slap in the face of those demanding special status: Manjhi

Gayaji (Bihar), Aug 22 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done so much for Bihar that it is "a slap in the face" for those who have been raising the demand for special category status, Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi asserted on Friday.

Manjhi made the statement at a function in Gayaji where the PM was present along with a host of dignitaries, including Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Speaking in the local Magahi dialect, the former Bihar CM and current MP highlighted the improved connectivity of the pilgrim town, revered by Hindus and Buddhists alike.

"In the honour of the prime minister, I would like to state that he has done so much for the country, especially for Bihar, that it is like a slap in the face (ek tarah se tamacha laglai hai) for those who have been demanding a special category status", said Manjhi.

The Hindustani Awam Morcha founder, who made his Lok Sabha debut in the general elections last year, at a ripe age of 79, also recalled with pride that the PM, while allotting him the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises portfolio, had remarked "it is a department of my dreams (mere sapnon ka vibhag)".

Manjhi went on to list various projects launched in Bihar since Modi assumed power at the Centre.

"It takes now not more than 80 minutes to reach Patna," he said proudly, referring to Gaya’s enhanced connectivity with the state capital about 100 km away.

Manjhi's remark on special category status was apparently aimed at RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, who has been taunting the Nitish Kumar government with having failed to secure the favour from Modi, despite the BJP being dependent on his JD(U) for surviving in power at the Centre.

Political observers, however, noted that Manjhi’s statement might also have been a backhanded swipe at Nitish Kumar, against whom he has an axe to grind.

Notably, Kumar has been one of the strongest advocates of special category status for Bihar.

When the Congress-led UPA was in power at the Centre, he had famously declared that he would support "any government" that acceded to the demand.

Both Houses of the state legislature have passed resolutions backing it, and Kumar had written to the Centre multiple times, only to be told that "special category" status ceased to exist following the Finance Commission’s recommendations.

During the brief period that he was out of the BJP-led NDA, Kumar had vowed to ensure special category status for "Bihar and all other poor states" if the INDIA bloc, which he had helped form, came to power.

Manjhi, who was formerly with the JD(U), has been sore that after making him the chief minister in 2014, Kumar decided to return in less than a year and got him ousted, which made him float his own party.

More recently, in 2023, he felt humiliated again when Kumar urged him to merge HAM with the JD(U), leading his son Santosh to resign from the state cabinet. PTI NAC MNB