The long-standing differences between the two ruling NDA partners, the JD-U and the BJP, have almost reached an alarming level in Bihar with both partners now questioning each other’s stands in public.

Days after it sought for a ban on offering namaz in public, the BJP has now constantly refused to support the JD-U’s demand for granting special category status to Bihar so as to bring it at par with the developed states, causing fresh bitterness in their relations.

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In the latest development, Bihar’s labour resources department minister Jibesh Mishra has rejected the JD-U’s demand for special status saying the Centre has already granted a special financial package which has significantly contributed to the state’s development. He said the PM has granted a special package of Rs1.25 lakh crore for carrying out development schemes and Rs40,000 crores for building infrastructure.

“Grant of special status to Bihar doesn’t matter since the state is already progressing,” the minister told the newsmen adding as per his information the special category status is not granted to the states that lie in the plains.

He is the second top politician from the BJP to have publicly rejected JD-U’s repeated demand for special status. Last week, deputy chief minister Renu Devi had dismissed the demand, terming it “unnecessary”. She stated that the state doesn’t require special category status since the Centre had opened purse strings for Bihar’s development.

“The central government is giving us more money than we could have got under the special category,” the deputy chief minister said, claiming the Centre funded all development works in Bihar and that the state doesn’t need special status. She asserted the Centre was giving more money to build roads and bridges.

The move has triggered strong protests from the JD-U with chief minister Nitish Kumar himself leading the charge. Launching a scathing attack on his deputy, the chief minister said she had no knowledge about what the demand is and what it means for the state. Curiously, the BJP was one of the parties which had supported the resolution for granting special category status to Bihar. The resolution was unanimously passed by the Bihar assembly twice.

State JD-U president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh also mounted heavy attacks on his alliance partner for finding no merit in their special status demand. “Some people are saying although Bihar didn’t get special status, it was granted huge funds from the Centre. I want to know where has this huge fund gone if it came from the Centre?” asked Singh, without naming the deputy chief minister.