What brought Mamata Banerjee closer to Narendra Modi?

Courteous calls have warmed up, almost cinematically. Narendra Modi may finally see some light in West Bengal as the ever-complaining chief minister of the state has come calling on him, urging him to consider the debt repayment of West Bengal.

Narendra Modi, it seems, was waiting in heroic patience-arms open for the rebelling minister, awaiting for a reformation. While Modi sees the GST votes coming, Mamata has some other things in mind. She wants help from the center for flood relief, apart from a much-needed moratorium on debt repayment liability of the state.

What West Bengal needs

Mamata is playing low-key these days. In fact, she requested Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during his 2-day visit to the state to either waive-off the loan or delay its repayment schedule.

The MNREGA scheme has not yet been implemented in the state. Although, Banerjee has made her disapproval of the Centre's decision not to start the program in Bengal, little has been done to implement it. Given her stance on the GST, the Centre is now mulling a proposal to chalk out areas that need it more.

Call it a barter, but Jaitley was happy with the meeting as he said,"There are several issues in which the Centre and the state government require discussion. To me, GST is a priority issue on which Bengal government's approach is very good".

Then comes the need for disaster management. With a loss of property worth Rs 30,000 crore, Mamata is considering seeking PM's help for post-flood reconstruction work.

"I will meet the PM on August 12 and place my demand for the state and request him to waive loans taken by the farmers," Banerjee said.

The GST bait

The game plan in the Parliament is getting clearer by the day. With the Lalitgate scam having knocked the party down, it can pin its hopes on the passing of two most important bills-the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill and also the Land Acquisition Bill.

Dodging the resignation demands of external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia, cannot be witheld for long unless the attention is diverted here.

But that needs support too. Although BJP has brought the support of TMC, BJD and NCP, it should still be careful about the other non-NDA government that have a fair chance of backing Congress.

Needless to say, Modi would need a little help here and Mamata is offering the same. So what, if it comes with a price.

The changing dynamics of the Modi-Mamata chemistry has its root in the socio-political demands of both the parties. Seemingly, a temporary agreement, it is to be seen whether the relationship continues to go beyond the peripheries of demand and supply.