As the demonetisation storm rages on the streets and in Parliament and the Shiv Sena, a constituent of the ruling NDA, joined a march to Rashtrapati Bhavan, two Opposition Chief Ministers have quietly lent their support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s gambit.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Odisha counterpart, Naveen Patnaik, have made public statements backing the demonetisation.
In fact, Mr. Patnaik managed to wrest a concession for Odisha from Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, immediately after demonetisation was announced.
“Mr. Patnaik was anxious that funds for welfare schemes, like pension for the aged, widows and physically challenged, should not be affected by the demonetisation. He wrote to Mr. Jaitley stating that 4,400 of Odisha’s 6,238 gram panchayats did not have a bank branch and 47 per cent of the rural population, or 1.65 crore people, did not have access to banking. The Reserve Bank of India quickly despatched Rs. 140 crore in banknotes of smaller denominations for the 35 lakh beneficiaries. It also assured the State that its demand for mobile banking services and temporary bank counters in gram panchayats would be looked into,” said a senior source in the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD).
With the panchayat elections due soon, Mr. Patnaik is not taking any chance.
“We are clear that unless the Centre goes specifically against the interests of the State, we do not oppose its decisions for the sake of opposing,” said the source. This stand has served the party well in the talks with the Centre on issues such as the Mahanadi river dispute, in which the Union Water Resources Ministry is seen as being sympathetic to Odisha’s cause.
Mr. Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) appears to be with the Opposition in Delhi, but not in Bihar.
“There is no confusion in the JD(U) about our stand on demonetisation. We are with the decision, and our opposition in Parliament is to highlight the sufferings of the people because of the poor implementation,” JD(U) Bihar president Bashishtha Narayan Singh said. Furthermore, he said, Mr. Kumar had stated at the beginning of his third term as Chief Minister last year that his government would have “zero tolerance for corruption”.
Mr. Nitish Kumar’s support for demonetisation, therefore, is also being seen as his attempt to balance a coalition he leads but does not dominate numerically. That is in the hands of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad.
His blow hot, blow cold approach in his dealings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi — he was made a member of a committee overseeing the centenary year celebrations of former Jan Sangh president Deendayal Upadhyaya — helps to keep allies and opponents insecure.
