Caught in a bind, demonetised BJP gropes for new currency

While Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has, in the past one week or so, stopped speaking in favour of demonetisation––even with a rider––Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday praised him and Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik for supporting the drive against black-money in spite of having ideological differences.

Curiously, the PM’s statement came on the day when Rajya Sabha MP Sharad Yadav, former president of Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), once again joined the opposition parties’ delegation which called on President Pranab Mukherjee. JD(U) could easily have backed out from the team as did BSP, NCP, DMK, SP and Left. But it did not.

Political observers are a bit surprised over Modi’s sudden love for the two chief ministers. They are interpreting it as another attempt by the PM to garner support from outside when strong resentment is brewing within the BJP and RSS. Senior BJP leader and member of the party’s Marg Darshak Mandal LK Advani’s recent statements on functioning of Parliament stand as a testimony to the fact.

Nitish, however, has in the last couple of public meetings in Bihar made it a point to draw a parallel between his government’s implementation of prohibition, which he claims had been imposed after doing the necessary homework, and demonetisation which has been implemented such that people have been forced to line up outside ATMs and banks, and in most cases are unable to withdraw even the cash they are entitled to per week. Again, while referring to the recently enacted Right To Public Grievance Redress Act, the CM said there are no long queues of people at public grievance redress centres like at the ATMs and banks.

On December 16, while Modi was appreciating Nitish’s stand, three JD(U) spokespersons were busy writing a letter to the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Patna Circle, Syed Tariq Ahmad, demanding an inquiry into the purchase of land by the BJP in 31 districts of Bihar just prior to the demonetisation on November 8.

Modi’s Friday gesture came a day after JD(U) spokesman Pavan Verma said his party would review its stand on demonetisation after the December 30 deadline set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi expires. He too questioned the shoddy manner in which the whole exercise was undertaken.

Whatever be the initial contradictions within JD(U), it now seems that the party chief Nitish Kumar is gradually shifting his position. A party insider told NH that leaders like KC Tyagi and Pavan Verma had played an important role in influencing the mind of the Bihar CM. He also said that initially the party president perhaps got carried away by the view of journalist-turned-Rajya Sabha MP of JD(U), Harivansh, who even wrote a couple of articles on demonetisation.

However, there is another view within the party. It suggests that the party had deliberately adopted this strategy to keep the BJP confused. Today the saffron party has fallen into JD(U)’s trap. Those holding the second view blame the media for totally distorting Nitish’s stand. There was absolutely no question of JD(U)‘s ‘ghar wapasi’ to NDA, which a section of the media deliberately propagated to distract people’s attention from the real problems after demonetisation.

“The truth is that Nitish never categorically backed demonetisation. It was a sort of conditional support and from day one he had been talking about action against those having ‘benami’ property. Besides, Nitish too had been––though not very strongly––questioning the lack of homework done before November 8 announcement,” said a middle-level party leader.

Now the BJP is in a bind. While the PM is praising Nitish in Bihar, his party leaders are finding themselves neck deep in trouble and are accusing the Bihar government of making a mountain out of a molehill so far as the party’s land purchase are concerned. Analysts are of the view that Nitish was perhaps deliberately demanding crackdown on those having ‘benami’ property as he was aware beforehand of the BJP’s alleged land deal.

So, out of all the states in the country, in Bihar the BJP is in double trouble. While people in general are holding PM Modi responsible for the hardships caused after ‘notebandi’, the saffron party is finding itself in extremely difficult position to explain as to what prompted it to purchase plots of land in 31 districts just before November 8.

Till a fortnight back media was painting a picture of a great rift in Grand Alliance over scrapping of notes. In fact, just the reverse had happened––the BJP is a divided house.

Soroor Ahmed is a senior journalist based in Patna