Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will be attending the swearing-in of Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister of Bihar on Friday.
Mr. Chandy’s presence in Patna is not going to be just a courtesy call, but one with political implications. The question being asked is whether it will be the harbinger of a larger political alliance against BJP.
Mr. Kumar has invited a galaxy of Chief Ministers to the function. They will include Delhi Chief Minister Aravind Kejriwal, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have also been invited. (Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited, Mr. Modi will not be attending the swearing-in).
Mr. Chandy was initially hesitant to go to Bihar as a Cabinet meeting had been scheduled for November 19. However, when Mr. Kumar insisted, he cancelled the Cabinet meeting and left for Bihar.
It is clear that Mr. Chandy sees political significance in Friday’s event. He has released an article, to be published in newspapers on Friday to coincide with the swearing-in, describing the victory of Grand Alliance as one against communalism and fascism.
The BJP had resorted to propagation of communal hatred as a campaign strategy in Bihar elections posing a serious challenge to secularism and plurality of opinion. The Bihar election result was victory of democracy and secularism and there was much to be happy about that. It would help to check the divide and rule policy of Modi government and its communal and fascist policies.
He recalled that the Leftist parties had not joined the Grand Alliance in Bihar and had indirectly helped the BJP to win at least 10 of its seats (by splitting votes). The CPI (M) should explain its conduct. It showed the dichotomy of the CPI (M)’s stand against communalism and fascism, he argued laying the contours of his political line against BJP at the Centre and CPI (M) in the State.