The return of Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister of Bihar — set to go to the polls later this year — and his efforts to form an informal “eastern front” against the Centre received a political response in the budget presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday.
But it left the ruling parties in the two States the overtures were intended for, Bihar and West Bengal, cold.
Janata Dal-United general secretary K.C. Tyagi told The Hindu , “At the end of the economic jugglery in the budget, we have lost, not gained. Second, the Finance Commission has focussed on mineral and coal-rich States like West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha; Bihar does not benefit at all. We have still not been granted special status, only special assistance.”
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien was equally outraged: “Last year, as part of the revenue-sharing formula with the States, West Bengal got 61.88 paise per rupee; this year, it is 62 paise per rupee. That is virtually the same.” He also pointed out that the budget proposes that “eight to 12 schemes including Backward Regions Grant Fund, National Scheme for Modernisation of Police, etc. should be delinked from Central support. So what the Centre is giving with one hand, it is taking away with the other. And this government speaks of cooperative federalism.”
Finally, Mr. O’Brien stressed, the “special assistance” promised to West Bengal will not be more than the Rs. 840 crore, whereas West Bengal owes over Rs. 1 lakh crore as interest on money borrowed from the Centre.
Earlier, Mr. Jaitley had said in his speech, “The Eastern and Northeastern regions of our country are lagging behind in development on many fronts. We need to ensure that they are on par with the rest of the country.”
Expanding on the theme, he added, “… The Finance Commission has not distinguished between special category and other States. Moreover, both Bihar and West Bengal are going to be amongst the biggest beneficiaries of the recommendations of the Finance Commission. Yet, the Eastern States have to be given an opportunity to grow even faster. I, therefore, propose to give similar special assistance to Bihar and West Bengal.”
