In Nitish's Promise to Reassess Demonetisation, Allies See Hope

Patna: After initially disappointing fellow travellers in the anti-BJP wagon, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is now keeping everyone guessing on which way he would steer on the debate over demonetisation.

Kumar has over the last few days thrown enough strong signals that he may criticise the Modi government on note ban after the December 31 "deadline" to normalise things, giving some hope to the 'united opposition'. He has also picked at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision of keeping donations to political parties above scrutiny, demanding that donation sources of an amount as little as even Rs 10 should be disclosed.

This comes after more than a few months of warmth with the government in Delhi, during which the Bihar CM spoke in favour of demonetisation and remained silent in the political controversy over the appointment of the new Army chief.

For the first time, an upbeat ally Lalu Yadav publicly announced that Nitish Kumar would be part of RJD's anti-demonetisation protests to be held after December 30 - though Kumar himself has not confirmed it. All he has said is he would review the situation once the deadline is over and then decide his next move.

"The JD(U), will review the post-demonetisation scenario after December 30," Kumar said.

He also made it clear he did not believe in the "cashless economy" narrative, telling journalists in Patna that,"Cashless economy is simply not possible in a country like India. Cash still remains the ordinary citizen's means of transaction."

Kumar reiterated his support to NDA government's demonetisation move, with a rider that he would reassess his support after December 31.

Kumar's unpredictable stand on important issues like demonetisation has kept his alliance partners jittery and his "no comments" of the Army chief appointment row was read by the BJP as a sign of support.

Over the past few months, Kumar had also not lent his voice to the Opposition chorus of questions against the government on the surgical strikes conducted by the Army across LOC.

Now his promise of a "reassessment of how demonetisation was implemented" is read as a positive sign by the Mahagatbandhan allies. And they are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping he would join them in criticising the currency ban.