PM Modi lauds Nitish’s Mission Prohibition

Patna: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday congratulated Nitish Kumar for imposing liquor ban in Bihar. Amid simmering discontent among the Opposition parties over Nitish Kumar supporting the demonetisation drive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday praised him for imposing a strict prohibition act in Bihar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in Patna on Thursday to attend the concluding ceremony of the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Govind Singh, said that “efforts of Nitish Kumar will become an inspiration for other states and his move to bring social change will also save future generation.” The statement, which was immediately supported by the JD(U), may send a wrong signal among grand secular alliance and other opposition parties. Observers believe that the statement is an indication about “growing closeness between Nitish Kumar and Narendra Modi.”

The other issue which the RJD may also raise in the coming days is the way party chief Lalu Yadav was ignored during the event on Thursday. Hinting that the RJD has taken a serious note of the issue, Lalu Yadav’s closest aide and senior party leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said, “Lalu Yadav was not invited to sit on the stage, which is a serious matter.” This was the first occasion when both the leaders had come together after Bihar Assembly elections where an alliance between Nitish Kumar, Lalu Yadav and the Congress overpowered the BJP. The JD(U) had walked out of NDA over the naming of Narendra Modi as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate before 2014 general elections. The statement has also come at a time when Bihar chief minister had planned to hold review meetings with few eminent economists to discuss “pros and cons of demonetisation in the long run” before taking decisions to “support or oppose the move.”

Nitish Kumar had become the first non-BJP chief minister to support the demonetisation drive to combat black money. The move had irked several Opposition leaders. RJD chief Lalu Yadav, who had launched a massive protest in December against demonetisation, had also indicated that rift was widening in grand alliance over the issue.

Without taking Nitish Kumar’s name he had said, “Ego of several leaders is obstructing the unity of opposition”.  

RJD is the single largest party in Bihar and a key constituent in the grand secular alliance government along with JD (U) and Congress. Observers believe that Nitish Kumar’s national ambition is pushing the grand secular alliance towards a massive division. Senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has often been slamming Nitish Kumar for his statements on demonetization and other issues.

Dismissing speculations regarding Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s  growing closeness with the BJP, senior JD (U) leader and party spokesperson Niraj Kumar told this newspaper that, “it was the work of our government which was praised by the Prime Minister, there is no political meaning to it”.