Opposition must not fail India!

The opposition must not fail India any more. A strong government does not mean elected autocracy and a strong opposition does not mean anarchy and disturbances

We define corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.

Corruption erodes trust, weakens democracy, hampers economic development and further exacerbates inequality, poverty, social division and the environmental crisis. – Transparency International

Private gain can be described as something that results in public loss. In today’s Indian context, the loss of public trust due to political wars that result in political gains is definitely akin to corruption. No one seems to bother about the public good. Before you accuse me of making a sweeping statement, let me quickly explain as to what I mean by this helplessness that I am expressing.

Let us delve into history before 2014. The BJP as the opposition party during the UPA rule had disrupted Parliament many times. Jumping into the wells of both the Houses, protests with placards and creating theatrics with by splashing currency notes to showcase cash-for-vote allegations have all been the norm. Then the Prime Minister was not even allowed to speak. The BJP had derived full political capital out of the Congress’ helplessness in countering the then opposition onslaught – be it the Anna Hazare-led, BJP-supported agitation, the aftermath of Nirbhaya rape case and the CAG reports over coal and spectrum scams. There have been several cases of walkouts, protests in Parliament premises. So, there is nothing new about the ruling dispensation accusing the Opposition of not cooperating.

But today, it is the opposition which is accusing the ruling BJP of non-cooperation. The security breach in Parliament on December 13 is not a small issue. The opposition was right in demanding the Home Minister’s statement and nothing more than that. The Government did not yield as though it is a big prestige issue. The Home Minister, instead, chose to speak to a TV channel on the probe being ordered and so on. The Prime Minister has maintained a stony silence as he did in a host of cases including the Manipur violence and sexual harassment of Olympic medal winning female wrestlers by a BJP MP.

The government, instead of involving the opposition to arrive at consensus on key issues such as the criminal law bills, chose the smallest of small excuses to suspend the opposition MPs. Amid empty opposition benches, the government got the Bills passed. Murder of democracy, screamed the Opposition ridiculing the Prime Minister who boasts of hailing from India (or Bharat?) which is the mother of democracy.

We discussed in these columns that the BJP was gunning for opposition-free governance after its much-touted Congress-Mukt Bharat.

Democracy is all about deliberations and consultations and unfortunately, the bulldozing BJP ignores these and treats opposition with scant respect. This is where the role of a responsible opposition is important. By resorting to walkouts and shouting marches, the opposition is actually walking into the BJP’s trap. The way the opposition continued its loud protests in Parliament can be described as a self-goal or a hit wicket.

By remaining the Houses, the opposition could have made their points heard by the nation if not the government. Remember, the sessions are telecast live! The opposition, in a way, facilitated the BJP government have its way.

After suspending the MPs, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar says he is ‘pained’ that nearly 22 hours were lost due to avoidable disruptions. “Weaponizing disruptions and disturbance as a political strategy doesn’t resonate with our constitutional obligation of keeping the interest of people at large above any other political considerations,” Dhankar, who is also the Vice President of India said wrapping up the Rajya Sabha’s 262nd session.

Aa a result, he said, the House’s productivity for the session finally stood at 79 percent.

The Upper House transacted business for 65 hours during the 14 sittings and addressed over 2,300 questions from treasury and the opposition benches. Most of these questions were not discussed and no supplementaries were asked. During the period over 4,300 papers were laid on the Table with no one from the opposition to comment on them.

He noted that a total of 17 Bills including important ‘path breaking’ bills related to Jammu & Kashmir, Appointment of Election Commissioners, the Post Office Bill, The Telecommunications Bill and the three Bills namely BharatiyaSakshya Bill, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita were passed during this session.

This perhaps is the first time that a Constitutional head, that too and a Vice President, spoke so much in support of the government. These three bills, Dhankar said, unshackled colonial legacy of criminal jurisprudence that was hurtful to the citizens. These Bills represented the spirit of ‘Panch Praan’ that would lay a firm foundation for Bharat's Amrit Kaal, he said virtually quoting from the Prime Minister’s Red Fort address. On an earlier occasion, Dhankar had described PM Modi as the Yug Purush and even equated him to Mahatma Gandhi.

As if this were not enough, the BJP government has even dragged the President into a political controversy over the mimicry of Dhankar by a Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee. The President’s post on X platform said: “I was dismayed to see the manner in which our respected Vice President was humiliated in the Parliament complex. Elected representatives must be free to express themselves, but their expression should be within the norms of dignity and courtesy. That has been the Parliamentary tradition we are proud of, and the People of India expect them to uphold it.”

The mimicry is a trivial matter and should have been dismissed as a poor joke. The high and mighty who raised a hue and cry over this “violation of dignity and courtesy”, did not utter a word when BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri hurled unprintable abuses at BSP MP Danish Ali or when Olympic medal winner female wrestlers accused another BJP MP Brijmohan Singh who has been subsequently charge sheeted by the Delhi Police. Singh continues to be a BJP MP.

The Prime Minister himself enjoyed mimicking the opposition in Parliament and outside. Well, after nine years of the BJP government such developments should not be surprising as the party and its leaders throw all norms to the winds.

It is sad to note that over the past nine years the opposition combine has not been able to provide the checks and balances required for our democracy. Their efforts to put up a unified fight in Parliament and outside have miserably failed. The Congress has not been able to cash in on the Bharat Jodo success and the opposition combine appears to be still groping in the dark over politically encashing the Mahua Moitra episode or the bundling out of the MPs from both the Houses of Parliament.

The ruling apparatus is bound to not only encash the recent wins in the legislative assembly elections but the Vikasit Bharat Sankalp Yatra and the upcoming inauguration of the Lord Shri Ram temple at Ayodhya.

While, it is given that the replacement of the BJP in 2024 is next to impossible, the electorate is not wrong in looking forward to a credible opposition to keep democracy alive.

The opposition must not fail India and not allow an elected autocracy to have its freeway. I am not worried much about the country’s global impression or image;as an Indian, I am much more concerned about the present and future of all Indians. The opposition must not fail India any more. A strong government does not mean elected autocracy and a strong opposition does not mean anarchy and disturbances.

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