Nitish Kumar faces Didi’s ire on demonetisation
The spat between the Janata Dal (United) and the Trinamool Congress over the issue of demonetisation shows no sign of abating. At a recent media event, JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar referred to his West Bengal counterpart and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's posturing against demonetisation as “too much of aggression”, and warned that it could change (for the worse) public perception about her. Days earlier, during a visit to Bihar, the West Bengal Chief Minister had, without naming Nitish Kumar, called him a “traitor” to the opposition cause on demonetisation. And now, JD(U) spokesperson KC Tyagi has added a dose of sarcasm directed at her, saying that Banerjee “looks good as didi (sister) and not as a dada (bully)”. The West Bengal Chief Minister, who has assumed a self-given leadership role in the campaign against the Modi Government's demonetisation drive, felt cut up with Nitish Kumar's support to the Union Government's decision. Not just she, but also JD(U) allies, the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, were taken aback by the Bihar Chief Minister's open support. But while the coalition partners in the Bihar Government remained muted in their response, with the RJD even later claiming that it supported the decision but was opposed to the inconvenience caused to the common man, Mamata Banerjee vented her anger. Perhaps she had seen in the situation an opportunity to take on Narendra Modi at the national stage, which is why she has had a series of developments in the national capital — meeting the President, organising protest meetings etc. But her efforts to emerge as an anti-Modi fulcrum are not going to work. In the first place, there is no reason why the likes of Nitish Kumar should agree to play second fiddle to her. Second, even the Congress has not aligned with her street protests; in any case, when it comes to the projection of a leader at the national stage, even in a likely coalition scenario, the Congress is naturally going to put forth Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate. This much the party has already indicated time and again. This leaves Banerjee with little heft to push herself.
Nitish Kumar is a shrewd politician who understands the public mood. He recently told a gathering of his party leaders that he would prefer to go by the wishes of the people (on the issue of demonetisation) than with the confrontationist various opposition parties have taken. At the media event mentioned earlier, he yet again reiterated that the people in general had welcomed the Modi Government's move to recall high value currency from the market. It remains to be seen how the Bihar Chief Minister's backing on demonetisation plays out politically. Nitish Kumar has rubbished speculation that he is steadily moving towards the NDA, of which he had been part for more than a decade. But the rumour mills will continue to work for sometime at least.