Nitish calls Bihar bandh to demand special status

An agitated chief minister appealed to all political parties and people from all walks of life to strike work on March 1 to protest against the Congress-led UPA govt's "betrayal" and press for similar status to the state.

Attacking the Congress-led UPA government for granting special category status to Seemandhra and ignoring a similar demand for Bihar, chief minister Nitish Kumar on Friday gave a Bihar bandh call on March 1.

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"This is betrayal with Bihar and other backward states," Kumar told reporters outside state assembly in Patna.

An agitated chief minister appealed to all political parties and people from all walks of life to strike work on March 1 to protest against the Congress-led UPA government's "betrayal" and press for similar status to the state.

"We have no problem with Seemandhra getting special category status but the same has been denied to Bihar despite a favourable recommendation of the Raghuram Rajan Committee," Kumar said.

"UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi advocated special category status to Seemandhra and it was promised by the prime minister overnight... But, a similar legitimate demand of Bihar is lying in cold storage," Kumar said.

Congress is playing politics over the special category status issue, the chief minister further alleged.

"We have decided to protest the Centre's discrimination by stopping trains across Bihar on February 28 to express the anger of people," Sushil Modi said.

The BJP leader also accused the CM of "weakening" the fight for the state's special category status by "hijacking" the issue and making it JD(U)'s "political weapon".

Asked if BJP would participate the March 1 bandh called by the CM, Modi said that Kumar announced the bandh without consulting all political parties.