From the Centre, a number of moves that keep Nitish happy

The transfer of Governor Debananda Konwar out of Bihar marks more than the end of a tussle between the state government and Raj Bhavan. It also extends a series of moves indicative of changing equations between the UPA and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, or at least an effort to change them ahead of the 2014 elections.

The relations had appeared strained for six-and-a-half years. The first sign of change came last July, when the Centre announced that a Central University of Bihar would come up in Motihari as well as Gaya. The Centre and Bihar had so far been arguing over the suitability of the former location.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram followed this up in his budget speech, saying the Centre has agreed in principle to review the criteria to grant special category status to states. It is a status Nitish Kumar has been demanding for five years. At public meetings last year, he had stumped the BJP, his alliance partner, by saying the JD-U will support whichever alliance grants Bihar special category status.

And Nitish recently issued a press release thanking the Prime Minister for reportedly tweeting that Bihar has been recording the fastest growth (10.9 per cent), better than Gujarat's 9.3. Gujarat is central to Nitish's scheme of things; the JD-U's reservations about Narendra Modi as prime ministerial candidate are well known.

Besides, Nitish had also supported UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee for President, against the stand of the NDA.

Govt and governor

The confrontation involved two primary issues — the way recruitment is made to universities, and the governor's decision to appoint vice-chancellors without consulting the government. University recruitment remains stuck for a decade, starting long before Konwar took over as governor. And the appointment of VCs led to a showdown that reached court.

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