Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao and his Government have supported the Modis policy of demonetisation. AP CM Chandrababu and Bihar CM Nitish kumar are also supporting Modi.
But the people are facing hardship but there is no backlash as yet. Will they show it in the elections and voting? The UP elections might prove it. The Telangana CM went one step ahead by asking the centre to provide state funding for the elections.
On the other hand Modi is confident the people are with him. Whether that support continues in Modi’s case now depends less on whether demonetization actually works, and more on how quickly banks lines shorten and ATMs fill up. If opinion does turn, it will be a serious blow to Modi’s leadership, although not a fatal one
“I know that forces are up against me,” he said, his voice cracking with emotion, in the aftermath of his sudden move on Nov. 8 to junk India’s two largest denomination rupee bills overnight, launching shock therapy for the country’s cash-driven shadow economy. “They may not let me live, they may ruin me,” he added darkly, “because their loot of 70 years is in trouble.”
Strict limits on cash withdrawals have left hundreds of millions short of funds, and the government has been issuing almost daily clarifications to the replacement process, aiming to help those badly affected, from farmers and hospital patients to brides-to-be, unable to marry for lack of cash to pay wedding bills.
Opposition over haphazard implementation is growing louder. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the opposition Congress party attacked the move in a rare speech last week, describing it as “a monumental management failure” and “legalized plunder of the common people.”
India’s anger runs deep over ill-gotten wealth, and the cast of villains who represent it in the public mind: the bribe-taking policeman; the inexplicably wealthy politician; the real estate developer who asks for half the price of a house again in cash.
Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party faces a run of vital regional elections over the next six months, including in Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state. All political parties rely on black money to fund campaigns and pay workers, so the BJP’s campaigns will take a hit.
One has to see how the political parties would manage the coming elections.
U.srinivas
Editor
