Special status demand like flogging a dead horse: Sushil Modi

“When the 14th Finance Commission has rejected the very concept of ‘special category status’ and it cannot be given to any state, the cabinet nod to send proposal to the Centre is a mere political stunt”

Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar on Wednesday hit back at Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, saying the Cabinet nod to send a proposal to the Centre demanding special status for the state was akin to “flogging a dead horse” with the sole motive of doing politics before elections.

Sushil Kumar Modi in Patna. (HT file)

“When the 14th Finance Commission has rejected the very concept of ‘special category status’ and it cannot be given to any state, the cabinet nod to send proposal to the Centre is a mere political stunt. The dead horse cannot run, no matter how much it is flogged,” said Modi, who was earlier the deputy CM of Bihar for nearly a decade and held the finance portfolio.

Modi said the Narendra Modi government at the Centre had already given Bihar a special package to compensate and much more. “What could the special status to the state achieve? The RJD-JD-U government doesn’t want to accept it. Bihar gets the highest share through devolution of central taxes. It gets ₹1.02 crore every year,” he said.

He said that when Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad were powerful ministers at the Centre, they could do nothing to get Bihar the special status, though there was provision at that time. “Congress is part of the Grand Alliance (GA) government in Bihar and it should answer why it could not ensure special status to Bihar during the tenure of former PM Manmohan Singh between 2004 and 2014,” Sushil Modi said.

He said that the Raghuram Rajan committee formed by the then finance minister P Chidambaram at the behest of Nitish Kumar had also turned down the special category status demand of Bihar.

Bihar BJP president t Samrat Choudhary also said Nitish Kumar should spare Bihar from such empty rhetoric. “Out of the state’s budget of 2,61,000 crore, state’s share is mere ₹32,000 crore. Rest is the Centre’s help. You will keep playing this till election and not allow Bihar’s development. Now, in the interest of Bihar, you need special rest,” he said.