Nitish Kumar asks Opposition to unite, slams note ban execution

On the eve of polling in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar Chief Nitish Kumar today called upon the Opposition to aim for maximum unity against the Bharatiya Janata Party. Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) had taken the lead in forging the Mahagathbandhan of JD(U), Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress that scored a landslide victory over the BJP in the Bihar assembly elections in November, 2015.

Kumar called upon the Opposition to not be merely reactive, but set and follow its own agenda. Significantly, Kumar asked why shouldn’t Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi take the lead in setting the agenda. "Why should they [BJP] set the agenda? Why not Rahul Gandhi?"

Kumar's remarks on opposition unity were shared by Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, who said such unity should be on the basis of a common programme and not personalities.

Kumar and Yechury were participating in a panel discussion at the launch of a book 'Fearless in Opposition', authored by senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, a second collection of his articles published in The Indian Express. The book launch was attended by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi, besides several other leaders of various parties.

NITISH SLAMS DEMONETISATION, agrees with manmohan singh on ‘monumental mismanagement’

Nitish Kumar also criticised the Narendra Modi government’s decision to demonetise ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes without adequate preparation. Significantly, Kumar had initially welcomed the decision, saying he had done so because he had seen President Pranab Mukherjee supporting it the day after the decision was announced, with the objectives of eliminating black money, corruption and fake currency. But on Friday Kumar said he agreed with Manmohan Singh's comments in the Rajya Sabha that the execution of note ban was a monumental management failure, said it was done without preparation and accused the government and BJP of indulging in "diversionary tactics" to cover up the failure by changing the narrative. "They are experts in diverting the debate. Now they are changing the narrative to cashless society which is impossible in India," the JD(U) President said.

Nitish Kumar also said that the demonetisaton decision itself was a diversion because Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pre-Lok Sabha election promise of putting ₹15 lakh in each individual's bank account after bringing back black money from abroad was haunting the BJP and they had no achievements to show on that score.

He demanded to know how much black money had been mopped up by demonetisation. "The government should now disclose how much black money was collected, how many old notes came back into the system and disclose overall what were the benefits. How much success was achieved by demonetisation. Don't divert. It will achieve nothing," he said. Kumar added that when BJP has no achievements to show, it indulges in communalism and polarising discourse.

With inputs by NH National Bureau.