A strong opposition is the pre-requisite for an effective and functioning democracy. But after seven decades of adopting democracy, a powerful opposition is fast turning into a mirage in India. With little over fifty Members of Parliament (MPs), century-old Congress is struggling to survive. The party is in power in only two states namely Punjab and Rajasthan. In states where regional parties are strong, the party has even been reduced to a marginal force. The fate of the Left parties are no different. Two of its strongest citadels have fallen. After losing West Bengal and Tripura, the Left Front is in power only in Kerala at present. If this is the condition of parties claiming to have all India presence, the regional parties are not in good shape too. Two major regional parties Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are on the brink of collapse. Others are not in a position to put up a strong fight against the Bharatyia Janata Party (BJP), which has been in ascendency in Indian politics since 2014.
The fragmentation of the opposition in India is evident in the recently held election for the post of Deputy Chairman in Rajya Sabha. Even after putting a joint candidate, the opposition parties at the final moment backed out from contest and the new Deputy Chairman got elected by voice vote. It is a familiar practice in Parliament to press for division (voting) even when the defeat is certain. In this case, even before the ball started rolling, it was clear that it would be a cakewalk for the nominee of the ruling coalition. This is why All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) decided not to support any candidate. But, Congress along with few other parties prepared the ground for a contest by putting up a candidate, bringing the disunity among the opposition parties into the open. Lack of floor coordination between the opposition parties was so dismal that Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the parties advocated for a contest, backed out even without asking for voting. The parties feared that the defeat would be so big that it would demoralise the opposition camp at the very beginning of the Monsoon session.
The problem with the opposition parties in India is that they start counting chickens even before the egg is hatched. If the opposition parties of our country are unable to come together on a single platform, it is because of the fact they are more interested in leading the coalition, rather than being a part of it. All the opposition leaders are trying separately to form an opposition alliance to keep his or her hegemony protected. This is why the opposition is unable to corner the government both inside and outside the Parliament. As a result, these parties are losing their relevancy in India politics and slowly but steadily drifting into oblivion. Clearly the opposition parties now need a leader like Jay Prakash Narayan to make them united and pose a strong fight to keep democracy alive and healthy.
