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Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is making new demands every day in return for supporting the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. CM Nitish Kumar and his party have been demanding special status for the state for a long time. But according to the recent rules, it was not possible to give special state status to a state like Bihar. In such a situation, the Modi government opened a reserve for Bihar in the general budget of 2024. In the budget, about Rs 64 thousand crore was announced for development works and flood control in Bihar.
Nitish Kumar is very happy with this announcement of the central government. His years old demand has been fulfilled. But in the last one week, there has been a big turn in politics. Nitish Kumar, who has become the face of socialism in Bihar, is standing against the central government with a new demand. This is a demand that has put the central government in a dilemma.
Setback from Supreme Court
On Monday, the Supreme Court gave a big blow to the Bihar government. Last year, the state government had increased the reservation limit from 50% to 65% on the basis of the caste-based survey report in the state. At that time Nitish Kumar was the Chief Minister of the state with the support of RJD. He took the initiative to form the India Alliance at the national level. During this time, he advocated increasing the limit of OBC reservation at the national level. In this sequence, he first conducted a caste survey in Bihar and then approved the decision to limit the reservation to 65% in the Assembly. Bihar BJP also supported his decision.
Then this decision of Nitish government was challenged in Patna High Court and the High Court cancelled it. After this, Bihar government challenged the decision of the High Court in the Supreme Court. Where on Monday the Supreme Court refused to stay the decision of the High Court.
Now this issue has become political. Opposition RJD is attacking Nitish Kumar over this. The implementation of this decision becomes very important for Nitish's politics. In such a situation, now only one way is left. The central government should include this decision of the Bihar government in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution. Nitish Kumar and his party have also made a formal request to the central government regarding this. Recently, Nitish Kumar had said in the Bihar Assembly that he would request PM Modi in this regard.
What is the Ninth Schedule?
Any matter included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution cannot be reviewed by the court. So far 284 items have been included in this schedule. Regarding this, JDU national spokesperson KC Tyagi said that at present we have very limited options. The central government should consider our demand. On the question of pressurizing the central government, he said that we do not believe in the politics of pressure. Things need to be seen in a broader context. After the implementation of EWS quota, the issue of reservation is being discussed afresh in the country.
Why is this issue important for Nitish?
CM Nitish Kumar's entire politics has been OBC and EBC centric. There has been a Samajwadi government in Bihar for about 34 years. First Lalu Yadav and then Nitish Kumar were in power. After the caste survey, he has given a new edge to OBC-EBC politics. Now the matter is stuck in legal troubles. But Nitish has put the central government in a dilemma by making this new demand.
Central government in a dilemma!
This demand of Nitish Kumar has put the central government in a dilemma. At the national level, the Indian Alliance is emphasizing on caste politics as opposed to the BJP's politics of religion. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi is raising the issue of population participation in Parliament. He had raised the issue of caste-based census during the budget debate on Monday itself. He said that out of the 20 top officials preparing the budget of the Modi government, only one is from the OBC and one from the minority community. His statement is going viral. The Modi government is now in a position to give clarification. In such a situation, if they do not accept Nitish Kumar's demand, they will be accused of being anti-OBC. Congress and India Alliance will make it a political issue.