It is very obvious that Rahul Gandhi is taking his appointment as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha rather seriously. After attacking the government inside the House, he has taken it upon himself to tour various parts in order to enhance his connectivity with the common man.
He was there at Hathras and then went to Manipur before visiting his Rae Bareli constituency. He seems to be determined to take a leaf out of his grandmother’s book, and his Hathras and Manipur trips reminded veteran Congress activists of Indira Gandhi, who had on her comeback trail during Janata Party government, made it a point to visit all places where she found injustice of any nature.
So far as Rahul Gandhi is concerned, he is consciously working on his image makeover and wants to prove a point to his detractors by pursuing his task with all sincerity. His role as the LoP also makes him as the shadow prime minister in the Westminster model of Parliamentary democracy which we follow. It is being speculated that he may soon informally constitute a group of leaders from within his own party and the I.N.D.I.A bloc in order to have a shadow cabinet. If this happens, then these leaders would be speaking on specialized subjects during discussions in Parliament. While no names can be specified at this early stage, any discussion for instance on foreign affairs, could have a certain MP speaking on behalf of the Congress or the I.N.D.I Alliance.
Similarly, there would be Opposition leaders who would cover most ministries and the pattern could also be repeated in the Rajya Sabha whenever debates on vital matters come up. It would be interesting to see as to who would talk on the budget in the Lok Sabha, since P. Chidambaram would be commenting on it only in the Upper House.
The idea behind the shadow cabinet is also to enthuse new crop of leaders, who have been elected despite formidable rivals and propose to play an important part in the proceedings of the House. While the composition of this loose group of leaders as a shadow cabinet would have to be pre-approved by the various parties sitting on the Opposition benches, it is likely that Tariq Anwar, Manish Tewari, A.Raja, Akhilesh Yadav, Mahua Moitra, Gaurav Gogoi, Deepender Hooda and Charanjit Singh Channi amongst others may be identified as key speakers on specific matters. It is understood that Rahul in consultation with Congress chief Malikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and senior leaders of the alliance, may take up the task of reaching out to the parties other than BJP, which are supporting the NDA at this juncture. The opposition alliance is expecting to do well in the state Assembly elections that are to follow and would factor this in during its planning to have a shadow cabinet. The BJP under the overall leadership of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah is also getting prepared to deal with any kind of eventuality arising out of the strategic moves by the Opposition.
During the discussion on the President’s motion of thanks, the Prime Minister had accused Congress of being a parasite and thriving at the expense of its partners after diminishing their influence. Modi’s statement was political but the Congress has been citing the example of three Chief Ministers, Naveen Patnaik, K. Chandrashekhar Rao and Jaganmohan Reddy, who supported the BJP, but had to pay a heavy price for this association in the elections that followed. Even the Akali Dal and the JJP led by Dushyant Chautala have also suffered on this account.
So far as the Congress is concerned, its dismal performance over the years and its curtailment in areas where it was once strong is on account of regional parties making the inroads. In fact, the Congress has suffered because of regional parties, many of whom are in alliance with it in the I.N.D.I.A bloc while the BJP has gained by its associations. All these factors were discussed and were taken into consideration when the I.N.D.I.A bloc was created. The common objective was to contain the BJP and in the 2024, this target has been achieved to some degree, though a lot more needs to be done. There are inherent contradictions within the alliance but these can be overcome through deft and intelligent handling.
Rahul Gandhi has matured over the years and despite being tarnished by his opponents, he has survived politically and now commands the respect of a large number of people besides his alliance partners. His primary task is to take on the government on matters that concern the common people and not allow it to bamboozle the opposition. To attain this, he has to be extremely cautious and vigilant since the BJP with its robust party machinery would not leave any stone unturned to attack him.
The basic idea of having a shadow cabinet is to have meaningful discussions on various issues and not allow important points to be brushed under the carpet. However, if this has to happen, there must be strict adherence to Parliamentary traditions and conventions and this has to be ensured by the two presiding officers who are constantly being accused of infringing the principle of neutrality.
Indian democracy is vibrant and has survived many crisis situations. The BJP keeps on attacking the Congress on the Emergency that was declared in 1975 while the opposition keeps on reminding people of an undeclared emergency since 2014. The bottom line is healthy debates. Between us.