Notebandi supporters are gaddars: Mamata Banerjee

PATNA: In what is being seen as an evidence of bitterness between Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress supremo on Wednesday used the term “gaddar”, or traitor, for the political parties which are not opposing the Centre’s demonetisation policy.

“Demonetisation ke issue parr sab opposition partiyon ko ek hona chahiye. Jo gaddari karega, janata usse maaf nahi karegi,” Mamata said in a veiled attack on JD (U) president Nitish who has supported the demonetisation, saying it would help fight black money.

The West Bengal CM did not take any name.

Addressing a dharna against the scrapping of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes at the Gardanibagh ground in the Bihar capital.

However, Mamata did take the name of RJD president Lalu Prasad and thanked him for supporting her stir against the hardship being faced by people because of PM Narendra Modi’s demonetisation policy.

She also berated the PM for accusing all the countrymen standing in queues outside banks of having black money.

“Modi’s men say ‘Paytm karo’, but children joke ‘Paypm karo’,” she said, taking a dig at people who advocate use of phone and netbanking if ATMs were not dispensing cash.

Mamata was among opposition stalwarts who attended Nitish’s swearing-in ceremony on November 20 last year after the Grand Alliance of JD (U), RJD and Congress trounced the BJP-led NDA in Bihar assembly polls. The event was then dubbed the largest show of opposition unity since Modi’s elevation as PM in 2014.

In Patna again, the West Bengal neta neither called nor met Nitish. She, however, called on Lalu and former CM Rabri Devi at their residence on her arrival on Tuesday evening.

“We are facing tougher times than the emergency in 1970s. This is ‘super emergency’ because the financial emergency imposed on the common man is worst of all emergencies,” she said in her 35-minute speech at the dharna, adding the Modi government has snatched the “roti. kapda aur makaan” from the common man.

The chaos and confusion in the market have exposed the government’s lack of preparedness. Two versions of Rs 500 notes are in circulation. If we take into account the capacity of the note printing press, Modi ‘chale jayenge’ (will cease to be PM) even before all the scrapped notes are replaced by new ones,” Mamata said, adding even eminent economists like Amartya Sen, Raghuram Rajan and ex-PM Manmohan Singh described the demonetisation as an unwise move.

RJD vice-president Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and RJD’s Bihar unit chief Ram Chandra Purve also participated in the dharna. “Mamata didi aayeen hain, nayee roshni laayeen hain,” Raghuvansh said while addressing the dharna.