People excited over special status to Bihar: Nitish

PATNA: The Holi this year has brought added joy to the people of Bihar amid heightening excitement and anticipation that the state could be granted special status, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said today.

Celebrating Holi at his official residence, Kumar could not hide his joy with the Centre reportedly considering to grant 'backward' status to the state and said: "this Holi appears to be special."

"A buzz is doing the rounds in the corridors of the power at the Centre over the special status demand for Bihar. The people too are talking about it with great excitement and anticipation that their due demand will be met soon," he said.

"I too believe that our long battle over special status has entered into a decisive phase with the Centre being favourably disposed to the revisiting the criteria for special status," the Chief Minister said referring to similar views expressed by Union Finance Minister P Chidambaran and other top UPA government functionaries recently.

Greeting the people for Holi, Kumar said the Centre must have realized that it would not be possible to ignore aspirations of over 10.38 crore people of Bihar, going by the success of a public meeting at the Ramlila grounds in New Delhi earlier this month.

"The Centre must have taken note of the message sent by the people of Bihar who have showcased unity and solidarity to press for the special status demand," he said.