Nityanand invites RCP to NDA meet on June 7

PATNA: State BJP chief Nityanand Rai called on JD(U) general secretary R C P Singh on Wednesday and invited him to participate in the joint meet of Bihar NDA partners at Gyan Bhavan on June 7 to collectively hail the achievements of PM Modi during the last four years.

The state BJP has already launched the fortnight-long celebrations of the same since May 26.

“Yes, our state party president called on JD(U) general secretary R C P Singh to formally invite him to participate in the proposed June 7 meet of the Bihar NDA partners,” said a source close to the state BJP chief, adding that Singh has given his consent to participate in the meet.

On May 27, Rai and state BJP general secretary (organization) Nagendraji had called on CM Nitish Kumar to invite him for the same event. “Nitish, who heads the NDA government and is also the JD(U) national president, has already agreed to participate in the June 7 meet. The invitation was also extended to Singh because he looks after the JD(U)’s state affairs,” the source added.

Observers feel the BJP is in “overdrive” to make the proposed June 7 meet a success, because CM Nitish and his party’s functionaries have revived the demand for special category status to the state --- something that has also been taken up by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) general secretary Tariq Anwar. On May 29, Nitish sent his government’s official letter to the XV Finance Commission, suggesting the need for the grant of special category status to the state.

JD(U) general secretary Singh, while speaking at the all-party meet facilitated by state assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary and Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) on May 5, had first reiterated the demand for the special category status to the state in recent months. It sent out confusing signals and, therefore, raised the hackles of the concerned.

On Wednesday, Union minister Nitin Gadkari, in an interview to a news channel, clearly stated that the special category status could not be given to Bihar because there was no provision for it in the Constitution. Besides, its grant to Bihar could open a Pandora’s Box, as several other states would also make similar demand.

Gadkari also added that the BJP had supported the demand during the electioneering for the 2014 parliamentary elections, because it was then in opposition and thought proper to support the demand then.