Patna: RJD Spokesperson Chitranjan Gagan on Friday alleged that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar misled the people of Bihar regarding the demand for special status during his Independence Day speech at Gandhi Maidan Patna.
Chitranjan Gagan said that Nitish Kumar falsely claimed that he had raised the demand for special status for Bihar after becoming Chief Minister in 2005.
He also released two photographs showing former Chief Minister Rabri Devi with the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
“The first photograph, dated February 3, 2002, was taken during the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Digha-Sonepur bridge. During that event, Rabri Devi had formally requested special status for Bihar from PM Vajpayee in a public gathering at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan,” Gagan said.
The RJD spokesperson further substantiated his claims against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar by releasing another photograph from May 2002.
“In this photograph, former Chief Minister Rabri Devi is seen alongside party MPs Late Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Ramdev Bhandari, Premchand Gupta, Saroj Dubey, and Vijay Yadav, meeting with then-Prime Minister Vajpayee. During that meeting, they presented PM Vajpayee with a copy of a resolution regarding the demand for special status for Bihar. That resolution had been unanimously passed in the Bihar Assembly on April 2, 2002,” Gagan claimed.
He emphasised that on May 16, 2002, a discussion was held in the Lok Sabha under Rule 193, initiated by RJD MP Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, where MPs from all parties expressed their support for granting special status to Bihar.
Gagan accused the Janata Dal (United) of betraying the people of Bihar by compromising on the demand for special status in negotiations with the BJP.
He argued that Nitish Kumar’s claims about initiating the demand for special status were misleading and that the RJD had been actively pursuing this cause long before Kumar became Chief Minister.
–IANS
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