The fast-changing equation between Modi and Mamata
THE SHIFT FROM ACRIMONY WAS FIRST EVIDENT WHEN BANERJEE WENT TO DELHI AND
MET MODI WITHOUT HER AIDES ON MARCH 10
KOLKATA:Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Mamata Banerjee moved from the extreme hostility seen just a few months ago to extreme camaraderie, marked by sharing a stage, warm body language and a one-on-one meeting.
This show of political bonhomie was witnessed when Modi made his maiden visit as Prime Minister to West Bengal.
That the Trinamool Congress chief had abandoned her aggression towards the Prime Minister was evident over the past few weeks, but that things would take such a dramatic turn was hardly anticipated by anyone.
Banerjee and Modi shared the stage at the Nazrul Manch on Saturday, had a one-on-one meeting at the Raj Bhawan and are even expected to share the dais in Burnpur. The bonhomie was on display both in action and words.
“The Centre and the state should work shoulder to shoulder for development,” said the chief minister who never lost an opportunity to lash out at Modi till a few weeks ago.
Modi was at his witty best as he responded to Banerjee’s complaint about the Centre’s stand by saying, “She has placed it in front of me as she has the confidence that if anybody can do it, it’s me.”
The leaders pushed towards a sort of convergence of political messages too. While Modi took a jibe at the 60 years of governance after independence – the Congress being the obvious target – and held it responsible for the poor banking network across the country, Banerjee held the 34 years of Left rule responsible for the ills of West Bengal.
Banerjee extended the change in mood beyond Modi by turning on the charm for Union minister of state for urban development Babul Supriyo, whom she gave a lift in her car from Nazrul Mancha to the governor’s house while treating him to ‘jhalmuri’, a traditional Bengali snack.
The body language between Modi and Banerjee at the Nazrul Manch was warm enough to catch everybody’s attention. They were seated side by side and continuously turned to each other and kept chatting.
For political observers, it seemed that the days when Banerjee wanted to put a rope on Narendra ‘Haridas Pal’ Modi’s waist in May last year are buried, at least for the time being.
Banerjee was one of the very few leaders who did not congratulate Modi after he became the Prime Minister.
The shift from acrimony was first evident when Banerjee went to Delhi and met Modi without aides on March 10. In February, she skipped the first meeting of the Niti Ayog which Modi chaired and was attended by most chief ministers.
“They share an old relation, they are natural allies. In between they had a few tiffs. What’s happening now can be described as ‘miley sur mera tumhara’. The green room is the appropriate spot to start a new drama,” remarked Mohammed Selim, a politburo member of the CPI-M and a Lok Sabha member.
“After Mamata Banerjee’s meeting with the Prime Minister in Delhi in March, the CBI probe in Saradha has slowed down significantly. Trinamool too has given its support to a few important bills. The political give-and-take is clear as daylight,” said Abdul Mannan, a senior Congress leader.
Opposition leaders, however, contended that a reprieve for people close to Banerjee who have been linked to the Saradha scam is a more compelling reason for the chief minister to get close to Modi.