Rajan report vindicates my stand: Nitish

Says least developed Bihar a step closer to getting special aid.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Thursday hailed the Raghuram Rajan report that puts Bihar in the least developed states category,saying this moves Bihar a step closer to getting special assistance.

The CM also said the report provided a befitting answer to those who once laughed at his sustained campaign for a special status category for Bihar. We welcome the report. Bihar is a backward state and any special assistance will help in its development. The report recommendations,if implemented,can help other states as well, he said.

Nitish said he would have been happier if the report had made per capita consumption the criterion instead of per capita income. He did not comment on the new categorisation of states and the reports suggestion to end special category criteria for providing additional assistance to poorer states.

JDU sources said Orissa being placed lower than Bihar in the least developed states category will hamper our cause. But one can understand the UPA bid to get more allies. Such political posturing is bound to happen before the 2014 elections, said a source.

The BJP said the report negated the very concept of special category status. Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said,The report has betrayed aspirations of people of Bihar by doing away with special category status provision.

BJPs PM candidate Narendra Modi tweeted: Congress has again betrayed the aspiration of people of Bihar by not granting SCS to Bihar. Still Nitishji will you take support of Congress?

The BJP leader said Bihar would not benefit from the report that is only much cry and little wool.

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Meanwhile,Nitish requested Vice President Hamid Ansari,who attended the first convocation of Central University of Bihar CUB,to help name CUBs at Motihari and Gaya after Mahatma Gandhi and Gautam Buddha,respectively. The state was granted the CUB after a long-drawn battle with the Centre.

Disappointed,says Naveen

Bhubaneswar: Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Thursday expressed disappointment with the Raghuram Rajan report,saying it did not address the states demand for more central assistance. Unfortunately,we find that while Orissa has been categorised as a least developed state,the special category status has not been accorded to us. We will continue to fight for this just cause, said Naveen. ENS