Will support any party giving special status to Bihar: Nitish

As the UPA government faced a crisis after Trinamool Congress' withdrawal, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today said JD(U), a key NDA ally, will support any party at the Centre which will give special status for Bihar.

Describing the political situation as 'critical' after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's party withdrew its support yesterday, Nitish, however, did not say if JD(U) would come in for TMC.

"I will extend support to anyone in the formation of the next government if it grants special status to Bihar," the senior JD(U) leader said while addressing a public meeting.

He said the political situation at the Centre had turned unstable after the TMC pullout.

Kumar, however, did indicate that the UPA government might not collapse after TMC withdrawal, saying the Congress was adept at managing the numbers required to run the government, but it would have to suffer ignominy in the next parliamentary elections.

"Congress ke log jugad mein mahir hain....lekin jitna din yeh sarkar chalegi utni hi durdasha iski aagami lok sabha chunav mein honi wali hai," (Congress is good at manipulating things...but the more the government continues its problems will be compounded in the next Lok Sabha elections," Kumar said.

He said that Bihar, which has 40 Lok Sabha seats, will play a lead role in deciding who comes to power next. Currently, JD(U) has 22 Lok Sabha MPs and is a senior partner in the coalition government with BJP in Bihar.

The next government at the Centre will realise the might of the people of Bihar and will positively consider their rights and aspirations, he added.

Accusing the UPA government of not taking seriously the special category status to Bihar, Nitish also taunted it, saying the UPA was relying on the support of the parties with a couple of seats to stay in power, a veiled reference to rival Lalu Prasad's RJD.