Budget 2024 Has Much For Bihar And Nitish Kumar Ahead Of Next Year's Assembly Polls

In a deft move, the Narendra Modi government on Tuesday managed to strike a balance as it announced a liberal allocation for Bihar in the Union Budget without yielding ground on the state's demand for a 'special' status or package.

Showing political dexterity, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the Budget proposes to support several standalone infrastructure projects in the state. Under this, Rs 26,000 crore will be allocated for developing four specific road projects, Rs 21,400 crore is earmarked for power projects, including a new 2,400 MW plant at Pirpainti, and Rs 11,500 crore has been set aside for flood management. New airports, medical colleges and sports infrastructure in the state were part of the promises. Sitharaman also said additional allocation would be made to support capital investments and that the Centre would expedite the requests of the Bihar government for external assistance from multilateral development banks.

The Janata Dal (United) was swift to appreciate the package, with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar stating that though he had initially been pressing for special status for Bihar, the state has now got special aid. JD(U) spokesperson KC Tyagi estimated the allocations would touch Rs 1 lakh crore, which will go a long way in building an 'atmanirbhar' Bihar.

Bihar is headed for assembly polls next year, and thus, the stakes are high for the National Democratic Alliance in the state, which depends on Nitish Kumar and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to retain power at the Centre. The JD(U) has held the reins in Bihar for two decades now, with relations with the Bharatiya Janata Party changing frequently. Nitish, who goes by the name 'Sushashan Babu' in his home state, is aware that he will be under intense scrutiny by both the Rashtriya Janata Dal-led opposition front and the BJP. The latter would like to occupy prime political space in Bihar in the long run.

However, for now, the BJP-led NDA has taken a pragmatic approach as it humours a leader known for his political flip-flops. In a way, the dependence is mutual. While the BJP needs the JD(U) at the Centre, Nitish needs to prove to his electorate that his prime objective, irrespective of his political flip-flops, is to secure the best deal for Bihar.

The aforementioned allocations for Bihar are in addition to plans for supporting the development of an industrial node at Gaya as part of the Amritsar–Kolkata industrial corridor. The idea to develop the node at Gaya, Sitharaman said, was centred around the motto "Vikas bhi Virasat bhi", that is, development around heritage.

Bihar has also been made part of a grand 'Purvodaya" plan, which covers Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, and aims to push all-round development of the eastern region. Human resource and infrastructural development as well as the generation of economic opportunities are the key goals of the programme.

The road projects announced include the Patna-Purnea Expressway, the Buxar-Bhagalpur Expressway, Bodhgaya, Rajgir, Vaishali and Darbhanga spurs, and an additional two-lane bridge over river Ganga at Buxar.

Further, in order to mitigate the perennial problem of floods that ravage the state every year, the budget states that plans to build flood-control infrastructures in Nepal are yet to progress. Also, the government will provide financial support to the tune of Rs 11,500 crore for projects under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme and other sources. These cover the Kosi-Mechi intrastate link and 20 other ongoing and new projects, which include barrages, river-pollution abatement projects and irrigation links. The plan also envisages undertaking a survey and investigation of Kosi-related flood mitigation and irrigation projects.

Between now and the elections, the focus will be to translate these big announcements into a reality for the people of Bihar.

KV Prasad is a senior journalist based in Delhi.

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