THERE is no doubt that some Opposition parties are going berserk in their thought, action an d expression -- in the process bringing shame to India’s democracy. There also is no doubt that such political parties have no ideology or philosophy on which to stand. And therefore, there is no doubt that a proper, official and legal response will have to be formulated at the earliest to punish such political organisations that have lost their sense of proportion, equilibrium, sanity, dignity and responsibility. The State must not fall short on this count. This strong reaction owes its origin to the manner in which some political parties responded to the grand event of dedication of the brand new building of the Indian Parliament by Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi. That event was wellplanned with every aspect aptly cared for -- including appropriate messages of President Mrs.

Droupadi Murmu and Vice President Mr. Jagdeep Dhankhar. Yet, some Opposition parties found fault with everything and kept heaping abusive criticism on the Prime Minister, the Government, and even the wonderfully-architectured new building. A leader of one political party even went to the extent of likening the new building to a coffin. (Shame on him and on everybody who did not slam him immediately.). Congress leader Mr. Rahul Gandhi said that the inaugural ceremony looked like Mr. Modi’s coronation. Many parties in the Opposition camp blasted the idea of installation of ‘Sengol’ -- the Raj Dand or Dharma Dand -- which signifies the metaphor of responsible governance as per the norms and sanity, dignity and responsibility of the ruler (whosoever he or she could be). But many Opposition parties felt that through the ‘Sengol’, the Prime Minister was trying to convert the country into a Hindu Rashtra. Each of these accusations and criticisms is full of utter nonsense -- demonstrating that blinded by rage of its continued failure to counter the Prime Minister, the Opposition has gone berserk. Saying that the new building looked like a coffin, meant that those who work in the building are dead bodies!!! And if it is coffin, as they said, then why indulge in so much of effort to get elected to Parliament at all?! -- one may ask. There is no objection to reasonable criticism of the Government’s action. There also is no problem with criticism of Mr. Narendra Modi. For, fair criticism is part of democratic discourse -- which India has accepted as the official and spiritual credo of the nation. But when criticism crosses all norms of fairness, then the discourse ceases to be enlightened. Unfortunately, this has been going on senselessly for the past nine years without break, without fail.

Hence our demand for an appropriate official response to such nonsense being heaped upon the nation. For, no responsible nation can accept such low-level diatribe from the Opposition. There is the need, therefore, to find a way out to deal with such stupid, thoughtless, senseless and deliberate criticism that serves no purpose -- even political. As watchers of public affairs, we are sure that the common people of India will teach a good and tough lesson to all those who indulge in such senselessness. We are sure that in the forthcoming elections, the voters will discard such political parties, no matter a few wins here and there. For our part, we appeal to the people of our great country to reject such political parties comprehensively. And we insist that this is not a political appeal; this is an appeal to the people’s good sense. The voters have the core right to choose any political dispensation to govern the country -- about which we will say nothing (as a matter of our democratic belief ). But our appeal is to the good sense of the common people to make the right choice.