Patna : Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday issued a veiled threat to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and gave a six-week ultimatum to the Centre, asking it to decide on whether Bihar would be accorded special status or not.

Setting the deadline, he said if the Centre failed to concede his demand, he would be free to re-launch his agitation on the issue.

“On our persistent demand for special status, the Centre appointed Raghuram Rajan panel which submitted its report last month. I have written a letter to the finance minister asking him to take a decision on the committee’s recommendations within six weeks. If they fail to do so, I will launch a fresh movement,” said Nitish, shortly after his weekly “Janata Durbar” concluded.

Explaining why Bihar needed “special status” and not “special assistance” as suggested by the panel, Nitish said if the Centre granted Bihar special category status, industrialists investing in the state would be entitled to relief in income tax, customs and excise for the next seven years. “This will be an incentive for traders parking their money here,” he said. Many industrialists in Mumbai concurred with him when he met them on Saturday.

Union Minister Jairam Ramesh had made fun of Nitish’s persistent demand for “vishesh darja” (special status). “Bihar ko vishesh darja nahin, vishesh darji chahiye (Bihar does not need special status, it needs special tailor),” the Congress leader had said in an oblique reference to the “special tailor” who could stitch new alliances.