Evidently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech while inaugurating the Steel Authority-owned expanded edition of the Indian Iron and Steel Company plant at Burnpur, West Bengal, on Sunday was animated more with the spirit of politics than the flavour of economics, although he seemed to go out of his way to renew his commitment to “cooperative and competitive federalism”, a somewhat fuzzy notion he has sought to highlight since junking the Planning Commission last year to emerge with the Niti Aayog.
Mr Modi has learnt over several sessions of Parliament since his election a year ago that his political resources are stretched, that he’s not getting too far in spite of an impressive Lok Sabha majority as his party faces an acute deficiency in the Rajya Sabha.
So it’s time for diplomacy with leaders of state parties outside the BJP-led NDA alliance. And that’s what he appeared to be doing in West Bengal. If the logic of this is to be continued, it is more than likely that the PM will next turn his attention to AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa, who emerged from the woods in the disproportionate assets case on Monday and Mr Modi lost no time in rushing to congratulate her.
As for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Mr Modi clearly recognises that her position in the state is pretty much unassailable. She showed this in the recent civic elections in the state, where the BJP cut a sorry figure in spite of a lot of hype. As a consequence, the saffron party now perhaps recognises the need to show humility, rather than hubris, which party chief Amit Shah had summoned in abundance not so long ago on a visit to Kolkata.
If by wooing Ms Banerjee, Mr Modi can persuade the Trinamul Congress to desert the Opposition lineup in the Rajya Sabha, his government’s task in seeing through some of the key measures, on which he has set his heart and is ready to expend political capital, will be considerably facilitated. The fruits of this won’t be available rightaway, but it is a path worth pursuing from the BJP’s perspective.
The point, however, is whether Ms Banerjee is ready to be wooed in spite of the CBI pressure on her party and its senior leaders in the Saradha scam. Until only recently, the Trinamul Congress appeared to be succumbing. It will be worth watching if the recent victory in the municipal elections has fortified its morale. In her own brief remarks in Mr Modi’s presence, Ms Banerjee spoke of the nation and the need to act constructively. This should have pleased Mr Modi, although he too would no doubt wait to see if the Trinamul leader really means business.
