Report a bid to woo youth, dalits, farmers, minorities

PATNA: With assembly election due next year, the state’s JD (U) government on Tuesday rolled out its development road map with chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi saying he wishes to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor through government interventions and bring poor and deprived sections to the “mainstream”.
Speaking at the release of the ninth report card of the government, Manjhi quoted former President A P J Abdul Kalam as saying India could not develop without the progress of Bihar and urged the Centre to accord special status to the state.“In our journey, we are taking along people of all sections and regions. Special category status to Bihar is not just a demand, but an expression of the right to development of ten crore people of the state. This is important for setting up a network of industries, increasing job opportunities and ensuring availability of resources. We are not getting full cooperation from the Centre, but we will continue the campaign for special status till we get our rightful due,” Manjhi said.
During his 25-minute speech, Manjhi took predecessor Nitish Kumar’s name five times in glowing terms. He later air-dashed to Jehanabad to attend a party workers’ meeting organized as a part of Nitish’s Sampark Yatra. Manjhi thus tried to trash reports of growing differences between the two. “The message is loud and clear: that the two are united to defeat the BJP’s designs,” a minister close to Manjhi was heard saying.
The ninth report card contains achievements made by the government during six months (November ’13 to May ’14) with Nitish at the helm and six months till date with Manjhi heading the government. Nitish had resigned owning moral responsibility of his party’s rout in the Lok Sabha election and hand-picked Manjhi as his successor on May 20.
Manjhi admitted his government was focusing on the uplift of certain sections like youth, mahadalit, minorities and farmers through fresh measures many of which were announced on Tuesday. When a mediaperson asked him a question related to this, he shot back, “Hum yahan mala japne ko baithe hain kya? He claimed JD (U) will return to power.
The CM clarified it was only in jest that he last week said he would not allow the seven Union ministers from Bihar to enter the state if they won’t cooperate with the state government. “They are our brothers and they would themselves feel embarrassed if they do not do anything in the interest of Bihar and I am sure they understand their responsibilities,” he added, but refused to apologize for his comment.