Congress is falling apart bit by bit and with the exit of talented
leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindhia the dam has just cracked open and many more
will follow. But is it not an irony that a person who was so effectively
critical of the BJP in parliament will now put on the saffron jersey and bat
for it? For the BJP it can always say that it was able to convince him that the
ideology he was following for the last 19 years was wrong, but for Scindhia
himself what does it say? That it took 19 years for him to get it right! That
does not make him look very smart, does it?
This sad story is not that of Congress alone but of almost all
opposition parties, without distinction. Even a few BJP allies are infected by
this virus - Pawan Verma is out of JDU! Shiromani Akali Dal too witnessed a
division when Khadoor Sahib MP Ranjit Singh Brahmanpura along with former
MP Rattan Singh Ajnala and former minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan floated a new
organisation called themselves Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali). Now let us look at the opposition parties other than Congress - SP is in
fractions, two obvious and a few not so obvious; RJD has had quite a few
deserting them, and so has TMC, NCP, BSP, BJD, AAP and PDP. So there is a sense
of disenchantment and disillusionment in all opposition political parties as
well as in a few of the ruling alliance. Why do you think it is so? What the
press would like you to believe is BJP is engineering defections. Even if I
believe this vested logic my question remains why is it succeeding in doing so?
I am of the opinion that all these political parties who cobble up to form
an ineffective and inefficient opposition have stagnated and are being run like
tribal jageers of fiefdoms by their
leaders. There is no inner party democracy, no elections for the post of the
leader and the leadership is being passed on in the ruling family to the next
generation. Thus Mulayam passed on the taj
to Akhilesh, Lalu to Tejaswi, Sharad Pawar to Ajit, Uddhav to Aditya, Maya and
Mamta are grooming their nephews and even SAD looks like Badal & Sons Pvt.
Ltd. These parties, as it is, never talked about representing the entire
nation; they represented their caste, their creed, their state, their region
and so had limited appeal, which was just enough to bring them to power by intelligent
coalition. Now what has actually happened is that even their limited audience
has realized that they actually represent a select few of them, like only the
Yadavs in case of SP and RJD, or worse, only their family! There was a time
when SP had only 5 MPs in parliament and all were from Mulayam's family!
So actually there has been a gradual Congressization of the opposition. The
virus of Dynasty has infected all of them and the ambitious and talented in
these parties are feeling suffocated.
In this scenario, when there is no scope of progress of talented people
in these parties they are bound to look out for greener pastures. When Scindhia
knows that he can never become the Congress President. He may be talented, he
may be blue blood but he is not a Gandhi, so what does he do?
Now this is where I pose my question? If you desert one of these parties
do you have to join the BJP? Is this not opportunism on the part of both the
deserters and the BJP? You were in the opposition because you had an
ideological difference with the BJP. Now what has happened? Has the BJP changed
its ideology? Apparently not; so it is you who is changing your ideology. And
you are a leader, so now you will have to tell your followers why you are doing
so. Are you doing it?
If instead of joining BJP en-mass these leaders coordinate among
themselves and form their own left of centre alignment, distinctly separate from
the right of centre BJP they can offer a viable pan India alternative to the
BJP. They can then join hands with young leaders like Jagan Mohan Reddy and
experienced and uncontroversial leaders like Naveen Patnaik and KCR and offer a
vibrant opposition to the BJP. Just as it is essential for the country to have
a decisive and majority government, it is also absolutely necessary to have a
robust opposition. Just as an indecisive coalition government like UPA II is
plagued with policy paralysis, an ineffective opposition like the present one
leaves a hyper-active government in a state of policy epilepsy. By making an
already strong BJP further strong these leaders are missing the golden
opportunity of starting a genuine liberal outfit, untainted by
pseudo-liberalism and pseudo-secularism. They need not be in a state of habitual
opposition like the Congress but they can offer an alternative point of view
when it matters most.
The balance of power in the parliament needs to be maintained and as
recent events in both the houses have shown the anaemic opposition is trying to
shout down the government, disrupt the proceeding and create ruckus because
they neither have a better plan nor can they offer an alternate point of view.
The era of appeasement politics and religion or caste based politics is
hopefully behind us and repeated elections have shown that the governments have
to deliver if they hope to be voted back to power. Congress is in the dumps and
its history of dynasty, corruption and inefficiency will keep it there. Now it
is time for the emergence of a new opposition party.
As per the statistics of the Election Commission of India we today have
a total of 2599 parties with 8 national parties, 53 state parties and 2538 unrecognized
parties. The new political outfit will have to align with the spirit of Sabka Sath,
Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, because this is the only credible slogan of
progress and cannot be disputed. Their idea of how to achieve these ideals may
be different but these ideals cannot be challenged. I have the sketch of one
such party in my mind:
1. They have to hold the government accountable for the state of the
economy and the dismal state of employment
2. They have to target the Education sector and ask tough questions about
the state of our primary education, middle school education and higher
education and is education improving employability. They should push for
education reforms and be involved with the New Education Policy. They should
force the government to spend more of education.
3. They have to seek answers for the falling production figures; what are
we doing wrong? Why are we losing out to smaller countries like Vietnam and
Bangladesh?
4. They should keep the government on its toes for the shameful Maternal
Mortality and Infant Mortality rates. They should compel the government to
spend more on health
5. They should be vocal against corruption not only in the government but
also in the opposition. The policy of selective name calling of the corrupt
according to their own political comfort should be avoided at all cost.
6. They should refrain from the policy of competitive victimization of
various sections of the society along the lines of caste, creed, religion,
region, ethnicity and language and ever time represent the entire country and
not any particular section or influential group. This unholy trend of
representing a select group has led to the rise of political parties with
agendas catering to one or a mix of these groups. Parties in India also target
people who are not in favour of other parties and use them as an asset or
votebanks.
7. They should spell out their stand on labour law reforms and land reforms
as these are holding back our progress.
8. They should have a clear understanding of and unambiguous stand on globalization
vs. protectionism, public holding vs. pragmatic privatization capitalism vs.
socialism and help in course correction of the government whenever necessary
9. They should be champions of internal security and have a pragmatic view
on refugees, humane and untainted by religion or race. They should steadfastly
stand against all political parties instigating unrest, violence, chaos and
riots whether they are in opposition or in government.
10. They should have unambiguous stand on National and International issues
which can enhance the image of our country even if it means supporting the
government line from time to time. Their voice against terrorism, both external
and internal, should not be opportunist but always loud and clear. They should
be able to call a spade a spade every time.
11. They should be fiercely critical of the government in the parliament and
out of it but once a law has been enacted by the parliament despite their
opposition they should respect the parliament’s verdict and the people’s
mandate.
12. They should exhibit profound sagacity and exemplary discipline in
parliament. They should come prepared and enrich the parliamentary debates and never
create nuisance in the well of the house with slogans and placards.
13. They should refrain from entertaining criminals in their party and not
hesitate to throw out the corrupt and the tainted.
For our democracy to succeed every government requires a constructive opposition.
With the Congress and most of the opposition parties infected incurably by the
dynasty virus exodus of talent from within them is unavoidable. But I do not
think all of them need to come out only to join the BJP. This is not serving the
purpose of our democracy. We need a new party to oppose the ruling party which
is not saddled with the Congress history of corruption and inefficiency. The
last time a crusader against corruption tried doing so he became a habitual antagonist
and a megalomaniac. It is time saner senses join hands and give the country a
credible opposition party.
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