Moved by Nitish Kumar’s Adhikar rally at the Ramlila grounds in New Delhi, during which the Bihar CM made a stirring pitch for conferring ‘special status’ on Bihar and eloquently showcased his state’s backwardness, leaders of Somalia, Ghana, Mali, Senegal and a clutch of failed sub-Saharan states have readied a generous aid package for the impoverished north-Indian state.
Somalia, which is itself grappling with civil war and brigandage, is leading the humanitarian mission with a grant of Rs.1000 crores to improve Bihar’s public health infrastructure, with Somalian war lords taking a break from internecine warfare to contribute to the fund. “Nitish Kumar’s presentation on Bihar’s backwardness moved me to tears, man. As a leading poor country, we are morally duty bound to come to the aid of even poorer regions,” said Somalian PM, Abdi Farah Shirdon.
Nitish Kumar expressed satisfaction with the outcome, saying it reflected his ‘poverty of ideas to develop his state’. “I have no idea how to use this money to improve governance outcomes considering that a large fraction of Central funds for social welfare flowing into the state remains untapped, but the important thing is to get special status for Bihar,” remarked the Vikas Purush, flashing the V-sign.
The JD(U) leader now plans to hold an Adhikar rally outside the UN headquarters in New York, demanding special status from the whole world. “I’ve asked my right hand man, NK Singh, to make a slick presentation on how bad Bihar’s socio-economic indicators are to grab the world’s attention,” he said, chest swelling with pride.
Meanwhile, PM Manmohan Singh has cautioned Nitish to not overplay his ‘demand for special status’ card. “If his entire vision for development is based on extracting more funds from the Centre, then someone at the Centre should be in position to make these funds available by expanding supply and boosting productivity, na? And that’s precisely what Modi claims he will do,” reasoned an extremely worried Dr. Singh.