New Delhi: Congress continues to dangle the special state status before Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar. A government panel lists Odisha and Bihar as the least developed states while Gujarat is ranked 12th most developed state despite its Chief Minister Narendra Modi's claims.
In a move that is seen as wooing Nitish Kumar ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday released the Raghuram Rajan Committee which had been set up for "Evolving a Composite Development Index of States". The panel has classified Bihar as one of the least developed states in the country and it can be granted the special status - fulfilling one of Nitish Kumar's long standing demands.
Chidambaram said the recommendations for fund allocation could be implemented as early as next financial year. Nitish Kumar has gone on record saying the JD(U) will support any party that gives Bihar special category status.
The least developed states are Odisha, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
In another surprising finding Narendra Modi's Gujarat has been classified as a less developed state. In fact, it ranks 11 places below Goa which is the most developed state in the country.
The panel recommendation could be a big embarrassment for Narendra Modi, who has based his election campaign on development.
Congress ruled states like Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala are shown faring far better in the index than BJP ruled states like Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
In fact the Gujarat comes under the "less developed" category. The list include Manipur, West Bengal, Nagaland, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Mizoram, Gujarat, Tripura, Karnataka, Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh.
The "relatively developed" category has Haryana, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Goa.
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