Decision to accompany PM to Dhaka welcome
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's decision to accompany Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his forthcoming state visit to Bangladesh is a welcome move. It demonstrates the Chief Minister's willingness to rise above political differences in the larger interests of the State and the country. This is evident in the State's Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Partha Chatterjee’s remark that Ms Banerjee's gesture will “strengthen relations between the two countries”. The visit in itself is significant because it comes in the backdrop of Parliament having ratified the land swap deal with Bangladesh, that had been hanging fire for years, and reports that there can be an understanding between the Centre and Ms Banerjee's Government on the other contentious issue as well — the Teesta water deal.
While there is no information yet to confirm that the Chief Minister has accepted the river water sharing proposal as it exists, there is reason to believe that, given honest intent from both the Modi Government and the State regime and an increased level of understanding and cooperation between the two, the matter can be amicably and quickly resolved. It would, of course, be an icing on the cake if New Delhi and Dhaka could ink an agreement on the Teesta matter during Mr Modi's visit. The land border pact is a done deal and it should be signed during the trip.
Ms Banerjee's presence along with the Prime Minister in Bangladesh also strengthens the Centre's position on taking States along in the nation's development, through what the Prime Minister, his senior colleagues in the Government and the Bharatiya Janata Party, have coined as ‘cooperative federalism'. There is a big symbolic attachment to the fact that both the Prime Minister and a State Chief Minister (belonging to a rival party) will be together representing India on foreign soil. There is certainly a new-found understanding between the Centre and the State Government.
It must be remembered that Ms Banerjee had in 2011 pulled out of a delegation that the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had led to Bangladesh, causing acute embarrassment to the Centre. The Chief Minister had then accused the Union Government of demonstrating a lack of sincerity, of ineffective communication and of pushing a deal that harmed West Bengal's interests. But now, Ms Banerjee's mature conduct contrasts admirably with the petty decision that Karnataka's Congress Chief Minister Siddaramaiah recently took of not accepting the invitation to accompany the Prime Minister during the latter's visit to China to boost bilateral relations, especially in trade and culture. Apparently, for Congress leaders, politics comes before national interest. Mr Modi didn't lose anything by Mr Siddaramaiah's refusal, but Karnataka lost an opportunity to push for Chinese investments. This is where ‘competitive federalism' comes into play. States that show a disregard for growth opportunities and remain rooted to petty political squabbles will be left behind, while those that seize the moment will move ahead.
Analysts are naturally wont to see in Ms Banerjee's move an important ‘political shift'. But it would be premature to suggest that the BJP and the Trinamool Congress are coming together politically.