ONCE again, the Opposition parties scored a self-goal in Parliament -- by not allowing normal business of the Houses to go on -- in the process prompting Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi to comment that he had not seen such a negative mindset before. The Opposition ruckus also offered the Prime Minister a chance to underline another aspect of Opposition politics as well. He said, in effect, that the Opposition members did not seem happy that for the first time the Union Council of Ministers has the largest-ever number of women on board, in addition to good numbers of people from Dalit and other backward classes handling important portfolios. Making this assertion repeatedly, the Prime Minister exposed the hollowness of the Opposition’s anti-Government shouting.

 

This development provided a sharp contrast to Mr. Narendra Modi’s assurance a day earlier that the Government was ever willing to get engage in a healthy dialogue on any issue. Instead of accepting that gracious invitation to promote democratic discourse, the Opposition chose to disrupt the proceedings of both the Houses of Parliament -- and give the ruling combine an opportunity to bring to fore the ugly truth of who believes in democracy and who makes only a natak (fake facade) of the belief. No matter the discomfiture on the floor of the two Houses, the Government must thank the Opposition parties for having exposed their own failing in such a pronounced manner. There is little doubt that the whole nation is concerned about rising inflation or the continued agitation of some elements posing themselves as farmers or handling of the coronavirus crisis or the Chinese incursion or the Kashmir situation..! While the Government treated the Monsoon Session of Parliament as a great opportunity to thrash out many issues through dialogue, the Opposition used the occasion of the start of the Session for creating ruckus that blocked any conversation at all. If the Prime Minister was not quick to grab the opportunity to expose the Opposition’s failing, then he would have proved himself to be a political novice. But as seasoned politicians that he is, Mr. Modi chose the moment to lash back at the Opposition whose members offered the opportunity.

 

What a terrible self-goal the Opposition scored against its own interest! But then, this has been the style of Opposition politics for the past seven years since the advent of Mr. Narendra Modi as Prime Minister. Not just in Parliament but also in the streets, the Opposition parties have only resisted whatever the Government did without reason, without even a simple instinct for survival. It is because of this reason that the Opposition parties have continued to keep going lower ever on the popularity scales, which is evident in every elections. There certainly are some exceptions, but they only prove the rule, so to say, of the Opposition’s collective incompetence to understand and benefit from the democratic opportunity to corner the Government on critical issues in an intelligent manner. Of course, the ruling combine of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has kept up its effort to plug every possible hole in its method and manner -- thus making it difficult for the Opposition to pinpoint many flaws. Despite this, the massive problems in the vast country can certainly offer the Opposition a good chance to pull the Government on the mat.

 

Such an effort would have thrown up the cream of democratic benefits and rejected its scum. But the Opposition appears to have turned its back on that benefit. By that standard, the Opposition is proving one major point -- that it has only a cosmetic faith in democratic and parliamentary processes, and its true colours are anti-democratic. The common man in the street does not miss the reality. He also does not miss the systematic manner in which Mr. Narendra Modi and his team lead the nation on its path of progress. And all this reflects favourably for the NDA in the elections, a reality which the Opposition fails to understand. But then, the Opposition has made the choice -- to be Devil Advocate in a lost case!