His combative mood enhanced by his being in his campaign avatar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, making one of his last appearances in the Lok Sabha in his second five-year term, carried out a blistering attack on the opposition, principally the Congress. The general elections being only a few months away, the Prime Minister’s use of his reply to the debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s address was predictable, but maybe not its ferocity as he demolished the Opposition in pointed denunciation lasting 100 minutes.
The number of seats the ruling alliance expects to win in the oft repeated figure of 400 might seem like pre-poll rhetoric. But it is a measure of the differing perceptions between the alliances that two leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc should have publicised their low estimate of prospects. While West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee ridiculed Congress’ chances with her sub-40 seats projection, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge walked into a trap of his own making in trying to mock the ruling alliance on the floor of Parliament with its own slogan of “Aabki baar 400 paar”.
The disunited state of the opposition as its alliance seems to be giving way after negative poll results in three of five states that went to the polls late last year may have further emboldened the undisputed leader of the ruling alliance to take down the Congress and others in scathing criticism of the opposition performance in Parliament, besides knocking it on various counts.
Government intransigence as well as the stubbornness of the Opposition may have led to standoffs and many unproductive hours, even whole sessions in Parliament. The Opposition may have lost a few opportunities there to put the government in a bind and it is that state of ineffectualness that Mr Modi may have been referring to while blaming the Congress party also for the implosion of the opposition alliance.
Given the history of personal attacks on him during everyday politics as well as enhanced assailing in poll campaigns and his own predilection to make personalities of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty his favourite whipping boys in the entirety of his political journey, Mr Modi's assault on the Gandhis was particularly sharp. Even so, there is no denying a modicum of truth may lie in his castigating the negativity of the Congress.
Be it the new Parliament building or the economy that has grown, organically over time as well as from government action in pumping in massive funds into infra building post-pandemic, the Congress has always been displaying a cynical disregard for the nation's progress, from the 11th ranked economy in 2014 to the threshold of becoming the third largest from a current fifth rank with GDP nearing $4 trillion. Mr Modi highlighted that very air of pessimism at a time his party perceives itself to be at the apogee of performance in its second term.
Notwithstanding the decimation of the Congress, reduced to 44 and 52 seats in the last two elections, a strong opposition is necessary for democracy to function at its best. The party may not be in pole position to lead the opposition charge on the ruling alliance in the coming polls, but the least it can do is to draw something even from withering criticism to realign itself in the matter of making room for regional powers and being the facilitator of opposition unity to face the BJP-led NDA poll challenge.
