BJP chief thanks Nitish Kumar for backing demonetisation

The Bihar CM had said note ban would help fight black money

 BJP President Amit Shah on Sunday welcomed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s decision to support demonetisation and thanked him for it.

“I utilise this platform to publicly thank Nitish Kumar’s support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s fight against black money,” Shah said while addressing a mammoth convention of the state BJP’s Other Backward Classes at Palace Grounds in Bengaluru.

Shah’s public acknowledgement of Nitish’s support has now led to speculation in political parties on possible revival of ties between the two erstwhile NDA partners, the BJP and JD(U).

Nitish had stated that he had taken a principled stand on demonetisation of high denomination currency notes as he was convinced that the step would help fight black money. He had also said the JD(U) would not support the Monday’s “Aakrosh Diwas” protest rally called by a group of Opposition parties.

Shah tore into political parties opposing the demonetisation move. “Rahul Gandhi, Mulayam, Mayawati have lost sleep after demonetisation. It has taken away the gleam from their faces”, the BJP chief said.

 He compared demonetisation to a flood, which has united even arch rivals in Indian
politics. “Imagine there is a flood and a huge banyan tree. Everyone wants to climb that tree to save themselves from the raging waters. Rats, cats, snakes, mongoose all climb that tree but do not attack each other only waiting for the flood to recede,” Shah said.

‘Decision will boomerang’

Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar said the decision of the Opposition parties to observe Monday as “Aakrosh Diwas” would boomerang. “They will now have to face the aakrosh (anger) of 125 crore people of the country,” Kumar said.

BJP to observe Sambhram diwas today

The state BJP will observe “Sambhram diwas” (day of celebrations) to counter the Congress’ ‘Aakrosh diwas’ on Monday. A decision to this effect was taken at the core committee meeting of the state BJP here on Sunday evening, DHNS reports from Bengaluru. The BJP workers in all the Assembly constituencies will distribute sweets and hold small rallies to celebrate the demonetisation move of the Narendra Modi government.

The meeting also decided to constitute three teams to visit drought-hit areas of the state and submit a report to the Centre, BJP sources said.