West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s angry walkout from a meeting of chief ministers called by the NITI Aayog, when her mic was allegedly switched off after five minutes, is a pointer to the new low in relations between the Modi 3.0 NDA government and Opposition-ruled states. While other Opposition CMs belonging to the INDIA bloc decided to boycott the NITI Aayog meeting in protest against the neglect of their states in the Union Budget, Mamata Banerjee not surprisingly took a contrarian view and attended the meet ostensibly to present the Opposition viewpoint to the Centre. However, her stormy walkout and her angry rant against the government in her interaction with the press outside the venue of the meeting put paid to any reconciliation between the Union government and non-BJP ruled states.
After the Centre’s rebuttal of Mamata’s charges failed to get the necessary public traction, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was fielded to present the government view. Her sharp rejection of the West Bengal CM’s charges and her virtually calling her a liar did not help matters.
The INDIA grouping parties came to Mamata’s defence, but the upshot is that relations between the BJP-led government and the rejuvenated Opposition bloc have further deteriorated.
The BJP despite its drastically reduced numbers in the 18th Lok Sabha with its survival sorely dependent on its two primary allies, Nitish Kumar’s JD-U and Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP, is showing no signs of mellowing down its aggression. Its coalition dharma consists of keeping its two allies happy with huge packages announced in the Budget for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. By this it hopes they will maintain the stability of the government. No lessons in humility seem to have been learnt from the general election outcome.
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For an effective democracy a strong Opposition is a must and that is what the Indian electorate delivered in its verdict. Federalism is inherent in India’s political structure. India is after all a union of states. The Central government has to recognise that they play an equal and important role in fuelling the country’s economy. It is only by taking their interests and welfare into consideration that India can be a truly strong nation.
Grandstanding and willful neglect of Opposition-ruled states serve no purpose and will only damage the federal structure of the country. A true double engine sarkar is when the Centre and states, irrespective of which party rules them, work in tandem for the greater good of the nation. The Constitution has clearly demarcated the roles of the Centre and states. No government should deviate from that path.
