After successfully managing to get special status for Bihar from the Center – the Planing Commission has readied a 12,000 crore package for the impoverished state – Bihar CM, Nitish Kumar, has stormed the international stage with his brand of inclusive, grant-in-aid based model of development.
The JD(U) leader and avowed Lohiaite addressed an Adhikar rally in Riyadh’s King Fahd Square, where he eloquently presented Bihar’s case for getting special status from the oil rich sheikdom before thousands of expatriate workers, mostly Keralites.
Nitish reminded the authorities that Bihar was not requesting but asserting its right in getting a slice of petro-dollar income since hydrocarbon deposits were part of the global commons. “If Bihar had those kinds of oil reserves, we would also be a rich state,” he thundered to whistles and claps. Nitish later said he would kick off the Western leg of his Adhikar lecture series by giving a speech in London’s Trafalgar Square.
The speech has had its desired effect with the House of Saud scrambling to ready a generous aid package for Bihar. There were a few moments of concern when Nitish insisted that the Saudi monarch announce a secular successor to the throne who would follow an inclusive growth model. However, King Abdullah assuaged Nitish’s concerns by pointing out that 99.999999% of Saudi Arabian citizens subscribed to Wahabism and therefore, inclusive growth that did not preclude minorities was a given in his Kingdom.