No doubt, the Modi government suffered a setback due to the commanding majority of the Congress-led opposition in 2014 when BJP came to power with a huge mandate. At that time, the Congress alone had 68 seats. The total strength of NDA was just 59. For legislations like Triple Talaq, Land Bill and Insurance Bill, the Modi government had to adopt the ordinance route after its failure to get them passed in the Rajya Sabha. But the table has turned today. The opposition is slowly shrinking and it now has a total of 65 seats and the Congress reduced to 41.

In this week’s biennial polls, altogether 61 seats in the Rajya Sabha were filled with 43 first-timers elected and 12 members re-elected. The BJP won 17, a couple of seats more than its strength due to cross voting. Congress got 9, JD (U) three, BJD and the TMC four each, AIADMK and DMK three each, NCPRJD and the TRS two each.

Interestingly, the House now has some heavy weights like former Prime Minister Deve Gowda, former Congress Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, former Jharkhand chief minister Shibhu Soren. Two other former chief ministers Sharad Pawar and Digvijay Singh have returned.

So what does it mean politically? The ascendancy of the BJP in the House of Elders would result in more political leverage for the party. First of all, it enables the Modi government to go ahead with the much needed reforms and bills in both the houses of Parliament. Earlier, a belligerent opposition blocked a number of measures though in the Modi 2-0 the BJP was able to push through most of its core agenda including the repeal of Article 370, Triple talaq and Citizenship Amendment Act. This was possible because of a divided opposition, which the Modi government took advantage of and also managed to mobilise the support of some neutral parties like the BJD, YSRCP and TRS. Now with over 100 members, the NDA government is unlikely to face any major challenge in pushing through its legislative agenda.

Secondly, it is a sweet revenge for the BJP, that the saffron party has overtaken the Congress reaching almost twice the number – 86 – a big improvement form the 2014 position when Congress was the number one party. This shows that the saffron surge has also achieved an impressive surge in the Rajya Sabha.

Thirdly, the opposition has had an upper hand for 39 of the 68 years. This will change now. Just as the BJP brought back the single party majority in 2014 after three decades, this too will be seen as a feather in its cap.

For the opposition, which is already weak, this would be a complete setback in both the houses. Earlier, it had the advantage in Rajya Sabha but now there is a danger that the government could flex its muscles and take unilateral decisions. Also the opposition has a leadership vacuum, not united and has no joint floor strategy Congress President Sonia Gandhi has convened the meeting of the opposition even but there are no consistent strategy. Only a vigilant and united opposition could hold the government accountable. The weakening of the opposition should not be a drawback as it is not the number which matters but the effectiveness of the arguments in the house.

There are many important issues right now like the handling of the Covid situation, the Chinese skirmishes on the border, the face-off with Nepal, economy and so on. Did not a handful of opposition leaders expose the Bofors scandal during the Rajiv Gandhi era when he had 415 members in Lok Sabha? In fact, the invaluable experience of the heavy weights like Deve Gowda, Sharad Pawar, and Dr Manmohan Singh etc. would come in handy if they take some interest.

On the whole it is for the opposition to be vigilant and for the government to avoid unilateral decisions in view of its strength to safeguard the democracy. (IPA Service)