One of the main prerequisites for economic growth and development of a country is a stable government. It attracts big industrialists and business people to invest. However, political stability doesn’t guarantee a good investment climate. A country may have a stable government but if one political party enjoys impunity from any sort of criticism, corruption and cronyism can creep in, and slow down the pace of economic growth. It is like a double-edged sword which needs a good balance to avoid hurting the progress of a country. This is why strong opposition party is important in a democratic regime – to maintain the balance by checking complacency and misdoings of the ruling party.
India seems to have lost the “balance” issue of late. While there is political stability in the country after the BJP-led NDA’s thumping victory in 2014 Lok Sabha election and again in 2019, the economic growth rate has declined of late. Even if it is due to the economic slowdown that is seen across the globe, the ever-weakening opposition party in the parliament is a matter of worry because economy can eventually suffer and democracy will lose its significance. The Congress party is in complete disarray after the humiliating defeat in the recent general elections. Dozens of its party leaders have either resigned from the posts they had earlier held or switched to other political parties, notably to the BJP. This depletion of leaders is witnessed across the country and at all levels of leadership. Many of its lawmakers are ready to defect to other parties and that’s what we saw in Goa and Karnataka. The grand old party has blamed the BJP of bribing its MLAs to defect, but what about the principles of its party members? Is people’s mandate something that can be bought? It is clear that many of the current Congress leaders are no longer guided by the party principles but by the desire for power and money. Several of its bastions have fallen into the hands of the BJP and its governments in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan could follow suit in the near future. We may soon see a Congress-mukt Bharat if the current trend continues. Adding more salt to the wounds, its president Rahul Gandhi has stepped down from the top post. The party is now gripped by leadership crisis within and seems to be more concerned about it than the political movement in the country. Its helplessness in the recent political developments paints a grim picture.
While the Congress is in freefall situation, the BJP is trying to enter Kerala, Tamil Nadu and a few states ruled by other political parties and to saffronise the whole country. The rise of the saffron party is good for India as it has given out a message that no political party is infallible. In the meantime, the manner in which the Congress has been reduced to the status of a pawn is a sad development for India because no democracy can function without a firm Opposition. If the Congress is not in the position to play the role of an Opposition effectively, it should swallow its pride and invite all the parties that are not in NDA to check the moves of the government as a single entity for the good of the country.
