Misplaced Elation

BELATEDLY, Rahul Gandhi seems to be able to grasp the real message of Verdict 2024: despite the loss of 63 seats, Modi was still by far the people’s first choice for prime minister. Congress might have moved from 52 to 99 seats, but it was zillions of miles away from a simple majority. Maybe Rahul’s euphoric reaction was delusional, stemming from low expectations for his own party. Or, maybe, it was the relief that BJP on its own had fallen short of the halfway mark. Whatever the reason for Gandhi’s misplaced elation, the cold fact is that the pre-poll National Democratic Alliance won a clear majority. In short, the Modi government is here to stay for five years. Period.

Mercifully, the newly anointed leader of the Opposition, speaking on the president’s address, at last, conceded as much, saying that the Modi government had the mandate to rule while his I.N.D.I.A. bloc was elected to sit in opposition. But where he erred was in putting too much faith in numbers, repeatedly suggesting that the larger numbers on his side would help him to be an effective leader of the Opposition. But instead of confusing quality with quantity, the Gandhi scion might profit from the excellent role a handful of Opposition leaders had played in successive Congress governments to hold the ruling party to account, despite the paltry numbers on the Opposition benches.

For much of their long and illustrious parliamentary innings in the Opposition, Vajpayee and Advani did not boast a three-figure Jana Sangh-BJP contingent in Lok Sabha. Yet, both proved effective parliamentarians in keeping the government of the day on its toes. Also, CPI and CPM veterans like AK Gopalan, Hirendranath Mukherjee, Indrajit Gupta, and an always alert and boisterous Jyotirmoy Basu, as also the Lohia Socialists with the great man Ram Manohar himself, and illustrious followers like Madhu Limaye, George Fernandes, Hem Barua, HV Kamath, et al, managed to make successive Congress governments with massive majorities accountable.

Then there was the one-man Opposition that was Feroze Gandhi. Rahul’s grandfather only notionally occupied the treasury benches while never shying away from calling a spade a spade, forcing one of the earlier scandals of his father-in-law’s government to be investigated by a commission of inquiry. The judicial commission report into the Mundhra scandal led to the resignation of then Finance Minister TT Krishnamachari.

Therefore, neither in the first Modi-fied Lok Sabha, nor in the following two, is the lack of numbers a tenable excuse for Rahul’s failure to become an effective Opposition leader, with or without the official nomenclature. The fact is he is just not equipped to be a forceful voice of the Opposition. Numbers do not compensate for the inherent lack of qualities that go to make an astute and responsible leader. Being childish, as he himself admitted on record some time ago, is no assurance of his being an effective leader of the Opposition, with or without numbers in Lok Sabha.

If you needed proof of his inability to grow, the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha offered plenty of it. Virtually regurgitating the lies and half-truths of the campaign trail, and repeatedly flashing a large image of what he called Shivji with trishul, he opened himself to a vicious counter later by the treasury benches who provided him a quick tutorial on the finer points of Hindu mythology.

He made much of newly elected Speaker Om Birla accepting his felicitations standing straight, and those of Modi with the head a little bowed, only to invite a sharp putdown from Birla. He said in his culture they were brought up to bow to elders. Birla ought not to have been so harsh. After all, the Gandhis are long used to Congress members, old or young, men or women, bowing before them as if they were all mendicants.

The brief session also dashed the hope that this Parliament will be less disorderly. While the treasury benches listened to the leader of the Opposition peacefully, when it was Modi’s turn to reply to the debate on the president’s address, Rahul egged on his bonded members to create a loud ruckus all through. Yet, the prime minister gave it back, even managing to graduate the leader of the Opposition from ‘Pappu’ to “Balak Buddhi” . A new moniker that may well stick.

Atal Behari VajpayeeGeneral election 2024Indian democracyIndian ParliamentLeader of OppositionLK AdvaniRahul Gandhi