RJD supremo Lalu Prasad on Monday took a jibe at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar after the Centre rejected JD(U)'s longstanding demand for special category status for the state.

Responding to queries from journalists about the Centre’s statement in Parliament regarding JD(U)'s demand, Prasad criticised the CM, saying, "Nitish Kumar appears to have compromised Bihar's aspirations and the trust of its people for the sake of power. He had promised to secure special status for Bihar, but now that the Centre has denied it, he should resign." The central government on Monday cited an inter-ministerial group report prepared in 2012 to assert that a case for granting special category status to Bihar is not made out; a stand which came a day after BJP's allies from Bihar demanded the status for the backward state.

In a written reply during the Monsoon session's first day in Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said, "The case for special category status for Bihar is not justified." He elaborated that special category status had been historically granted by the National Development Council (NDC) to states with specific characteristics requiring special consideration.

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