Nitish Kumar's JD(U) Holds Key Meet In Delhi, Urges Centre To Give 'Special Category' Status To Bihar

The Janata Dal (United) held its national executive meeting in Delhi on Saturday (29 June).

At the meeting, JD(U) reiterated its demand for special category status for Bihar, while adding that the Centre could also consider an alternative in a special package, party senior leader Neeraj Kumar said, Indian Express reported.

The call for special category status for Bihar assumes significance at this time because Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP relies on support from Kumar’s JD(U), which holds 12 seats in the newly elected Lok Sabha, to maintain power at the Centre.

The JD(U) also demanded stringent action against culprits in exam paper leak cases and called for a strong law to rule out such incidents in the future.

During the meeting, Sanjay Jha, the party's Rajya Sabha MP, was elected as the JD(U) working president.

The decision to appoint Jha as working presidentis significant since he is known to have a good equation with the BJP leadership.

Following his appointment, Jha told news agency PTI that Prime Minister Narendra Modi always paid attention to Bihar and expressed hope that the party’s demand for special category status or a package for the state would be met.

Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, Union ministers Lalan Singh and Ram Nath Thakur, and other senior leaders from around the country were present at the meeting held in Delhi.

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