Opposition Is Dead, Long Live Opposition!

MPs who enjoy dirty, filthy remarks being made by the ruling party MPs cannot be expected to oppose the BJP, but the opposition has a role to play as elected representatives

Politics is very important in democracy, give it respect, the more respect politics gets, the more political purity will happen. We consider it useless, dirty, if it is dirty, then it will remain dirty, we should give it respect and good people should come, so this is my effort. – PM Narendra Modi in his podcast with Nikhil Kamath.

The fanfare with which the INDIA bloc has been launched appears to have been a short-lived affair. Discontentment has been witnessed right from Day 1 when TMC supremo Mamata Bannerjee claimed that the acronym INDIA was her brainchild. She did not like Rahul Gandhi planning his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra through West Bengal without consulting her. In fact, we were the first to raise concerns over Congress going all alone with Bharat Jodo without involving the rest of the opposition.

With the united opposition checking the BJP’s bulldozing majority in the Lok Sabha poll, the INDIA block should have continued the mission to build a strong alternative to the saffron party. But in the subsequent elections to the legislative assemblies in Haryana, MP and Chhattisgarh the BJP had a great run and took full advantage of a disunited opposition. There was no semblance of the INDIA bloc.

The Congress alliance with like-minded parties appeared to have been limited to Jammu & Kashmir. Bihar’s Tejaswi Yadav says his RJD has an alliance with the Congress and that it is intact. But that is not all about opposition unity. Much like in the Lok Sabha poll, it should be seen in action everywhere, even though with some hiccups that we saw in Maharashtra.

Now J&K CM Omar Abdullah says INDIA should be disbanded if the Lok Sabha election was the lone target for the opposition unity. Sounds a bit shortsighted and a frustrated approach, doesn’t it? You cannot blame Omar for it totally, though. The Congress’ attitude gives rise to such disappointing voices.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which was born for and by opposing the Congress could not be expected to contribute much to the opposition unity under the Congress leadership. Hence, it was not a surprise that it did not join the INDIA bloc. Both the Congress and AAP cadre did not work shoulder to shoulder in Delhi during the Lok Sabha Poll and they did not have any alliance in Punjab.

AAP was on its own during the Haryana assembly elections and it helped divide the non-BJP votes. The BJP has won the elections. Now, in the Delhi Assembly elections, too, AAP has called off its alliance with the Congress, perhaps learning the lessons of the Lok Sabha poll.

The Congress on its part does not seem to be doing much to strengthen the opposition unity. Having obtained the Leader of the Opposition post (LOP), the grand old party could have graciously allowed any other party leader to be convenor of INDIA and allowed the unity to continue. But, unfortunately though, grace and politics do not co-exist. This is also evident from the fact that the Congress has latched on to the BJP’s attack on the alleged Sheesh Mahal scam involving AAP founder Arvind Kejriwal.

AAP blasted the BJP leader RameshBidhuri for his nonsensical remarks that he would make Kalkaji road (In Delhi) as shining as Priyanka Gandhi’s cheeks. But the Congress did not say a word when the same Bidhuri made a shameful remark against Delhi CM Atishi stating she has changed her father by changing her surname from Marlena to Singh. Political opposition apart, the Congress should have supported the AAP fight against such rude behaviour by the BJP leader.

The last nail in the opposition unity coffin comes from Mumbai where Shiv Sena (UBT) decided to go alone in the forthcoming civic elections in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane. The Sena UBT, the Congress and NCP (Sharad Pawar) has fought the Lok Sabha poll as Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and under INDIA banner and helped check BJP onslaught. But the non-BJP alliance’s performance could not be repeated during the recent Maharashtra Assembly elections. The MVA has collapsed, again due to the lack of cohesion among the three party leaders.

It is anybody’s guess now as to what will happen in the civic polls as the urban votes would get badly just not split but splintered among the BJP’s Maha Yuti on one side and the Congress, Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Barring a last-minute miracle that the Congress can pull through – which is highly unlikely even theatrically speaking - the BJP is bound to have its majors in the three cities.

Coming to Omar Abdullah’s suggestion for disbanding the INDIA bloc, one should point out to him that the Lok Sabha election might be over, but the House will continue to function for the next five years. The opposition unity within the House is equally important to check bulldozing by the BJP. INDIA is on a good wicket and they need to strengthen their batting and fielding to safeguard democracy.

This is more important now than ever before since PM Modi says social media is a great power of democracy. Yes, we have been observing the way the BJP IT cell makes use of social media to spread its own style of democracy that is nothing but a one-way traffic.

I would like to ask Modi (though he is not expected to respond) if political discussion has come down to such a nadir that we have to follow social media that lacks any semblance of credibility? Aren’t politics and democracy serious subjects that should be discussed equally seriously rather than making flimsy remarks on social media?

Modi justifies his election speeches as his “compulsion”. “…it is such a compulsion that my entire time is spent on governance except during elections…”

Yes, Mr Modi, you spend your time making Muslim-mutton-mangalsutra-buffalo remarks during the elections and then use the social media platforms to extrapolate your views to create a sense of fear among voters. MPs who enjoy dirty, filthy remarks being made by the ruling party MPs cannot be expected to oppose the BJP, but the opposition has a role to play as elected representatives.

In his podcast interview to Nikhil Kamath - which was yet another one-way traffic, just as Modi’s interviews to Godi media channels – the PM says: “In a democracy, you should accept that there will be allegations against you, there will be many kinds of allegations, but if you are right, you have not done anything wrong, then you will never face any problem.” Music, right? But instead of either ignoring or responding to the opposition allegations, the BJP goes overboard to run down the opposition with its notorious deflective strategy. The Sheesh Mahal controversy, ignited with the help of the yet-to-be-released CAG report, is a sad example of the BJP playing dirty politics through the media and social media. Worse still, the Delhi government does not allow the AAP team, accompanied by media, to visit the renovated residence of the Delhi CM. AAP wanted to cross-check if the so-called uber luxe residence has gold plated commodes!

This is where a united opposition needs to come together and get BJP back into the democratic track of discussing the real issues that matter to the voter and not the fictitious CAG reports. The CAG report ‘damning’ the Delhi CM’s official (yes, official) residence for wasting taxpayers’ money was yet to be published on the Comptroller’s website at the time of writing this column on Monday. The last CAG report on Delhi state was dated July 5, 2022 and it was for the year ended March 31, 2020. But the BJP has its print outs! This itself calls for an investigation and will the Congress- led opposition ask for it?

(The columnist is a Mumbai-based author and independent media veteran, running websites and a YouTube channel known for his thought-provoking messaging.)