Nitish claims no govt at Centre without Bihar's 40 MPs

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday said that no government would be formed at the centre after the next Lok Sabha elections without the support of Bihar's 40 members of Parliament.

"Forty MPs from Bihar will play a crucial role in formation of the next government at the Centre and it is not possible to form next government without their help and support," Nitish said at a public meeting in Sitamarhi during Adhikar Yatra.

Nitish has appealed to people to elect such MPs, who are supporting the demand to accord special category status to Bihar.

"The electorate should elect MPs who are committed to the cause of special category status to Bihar because the next government cannot be formed without their help," he said.

Nitish said that next government at the centre have to accord special category status to Bihar. "The next Central government cannot say no, as it would be stable with Bihar's 40 MPs," he said.

He also warned that any party or combination that would ignore the popular demand of over 10 crore Biharis will be wiped out from the state.

Nitish began his Adhikar Yatra three days ago from west Champaran. The drive is aimed to seek mass support (people) for a proposed rally in the state capital on November 4 to demand special category status for the state.

On the first day of the yatra, Kumar said that his party Janata Dal-United will extend support to any party which gives special category status to Bihar.

But a day later, Nitish clarified that what he said the previous day was in the context of the 2014 general elections and that he could not think of giving support to the United Progressive Alliance.