While any democracy needs a stable government, it also needs a credible and strong Opposition. Its main role is to question the government of the day and hold them accountable to the public. It is the Opposition that puts rein on the power of the government of the day and checks it. It is indeed a well-established fact that political parties with massive majorities and weak Opposition have adversely impacted crucial issues.

Though when Rajiv Gandhi came to power after the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984 with a brute majority of 415 seats, the Opposition was weak in numbers, but not silent. Half a dozen leaders from various opposition parties — including Madhu Dandavate, Somnath Chatterjee, Inderjit Gupta, Unnikrishnan, Jaipal Reddy, to name a few — had effectively exposed the Bofors gun deal scam, which really cost Rajiv Gandhi his government. Prior to that when Indira Gandhi lost the elections in 1977, she had fielded vocal leaders like C.M. Stephan.

Unfortunately, the current Opposition does not have many such leaders who could hold forth in Parliament and outside, nor is it united. This is indeed the real concern. In a blog post titled: “The frightening and scary scenario of India’s Opposition,” BJP leader Arun Jaitley calling the Opposition camp “fractured,” pointed out that they have no agreement on either a leader or programme and the common point between them is just to “get rid of one person. (Modi) By failing to unite, the opposition had gifted whopping 352 seats to the BJP in 2019”.

The muted voice of the Opposition is also linked to the phenomenal growth of the BJP emerging as a pan national party in the past decade or so. The first is the inability of the Congress to function as an effective Opposition. The grand old party is still living in its past glory without realising that the voter profile has changed and the party has lost its connect with the new voters. Rahul Gandhi, though younger than Prime Minister Modi, is unable to attract the youth. The Congress is yet to introspect what went wrong in 2019 polls and also make efforts to reinvent itself.

On the contrary, Rahul Gandhi’s resignation has plunged the party into a leadership crisis from which it is yet to come out. The Congress is yet to build up the party at the grossroot level to match the BJP. It has not realised that times have changed. Only boycotting Parliament and hitting the streets are not enough. They need to connect with the masses and educate them on issues. Above all, even after the defeat in the polls, the Opposition remains divided as is evident from the way the BSP leader Mayawati broke her alliance with the SP recently. The Congress-JD(S) coalition is crumbling in Karnataka. Also many Opposition leaders are vulnerable facing several court cases. The Opposition has failed to provide an alternative view of the government convincingly.

The second reason for the current state of affairs is the gradual demise of the Left parties. From ruling in three states earlier, the Left parties have been practically decimated in its strongholds of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. The comrades have long been split between a highly intellectual circle and a rural movement with the result they are gradually losing their hold on both. They also have failed to reorient themselves to the current day requirements of the voters without realising that chanting secularism and class struggle no more attract the voters.

As for the rest of the parties like the SP, BSP, RJD, Trinamool Congress, NCP, DMK, JD(S), Shiv Sena, TRS, TDP and most northeastern regional parties, regional satraps who believe in family rule lead most of them. They also have no worldview.

Lack of Opposition is indeed a great tragedy of India today, which is a worrisome factor in a democracy. The Congress had it going for six decades dealing with a weak Opposition. A complete decimation of Opposition parties is not good for the country. Constructive criticism and not blind agitation is the role of an effective Opposition in a parliamentary democracy.

It is quite clear that political power equations have shifted heavily towards the BJP. Right now Prime Minister Modi is enjoying a larger-than-life image like Nehru or Indira Gandhi once did. The role of the Opposition is as important as that of the government. Time has come now for the Opposition to rise, as Indian democracy is crying out for a real Opposition. (IPA Service)