R. B SURI
At the moment, opposition political parties very much are there in the Lok Sabha but are ineffective as the Indian National Congress- a political party having a background of more than 120 + years which fought against the British Raj and ultimately succeeded in achieving the Independence of the country in 1947, has been reduced to the skeleton with the just strength of only 44 MPs in Lok Sabha. Same is the case with other political parties which were dictating their terms to the weak UPA for running the government at the centre . Those were the days when these political parties were ruling the country indirectly for a period of more than a decade. In the parliamentary democracy in India, we have seen Dr. Manmohan Singh as the weakest Prime Minister though a renowned economist, who ruled the country for more than a decade heading the UPA – I and II. Fortunately during the currency of his government at the centre, big scams like 2G scandals and coal scam were detected and the guilty whoever were booked such as Cabinet Minister A Raja and Kanimozli of the AIDMK , in accordance with the provisions of law of the land . In 2G scam , all the guilties were punished and undergone imprisonments and in the coal scam action is underway.
The opposition what soever is there should unite together and apply the checks and balances on Modi’s inappropriate actions. Now the Central Government has already presented the Bill on land Acquisition in the Lok Sabha on 24th February 2015 and heated debates on this issue were made by both the segments ie ruling and the opposition and the ruling NDA wanted to get it through the Parliament to give it shape of an Act- a piece of enactment. But still it is a Bill. Let’s see the outcome of the same. But in any case the opposition has to be strong in the interest of the parliamentary democracy in the country. Rahul is concentrating on the farmers and made an impressive speech in the Parliament last month and spoke at length against the Land Acquisition Bill. Having remained under hibernation for 57 days or so, he has gained the strength and exerting a lot in favour of the farming community of the country. As per his strategy to counter Modi, he would be concentrating on the farmers and the youth of the country. Already he has debated on the Land Acquisition Bill in Lok Sabha and by serving notice Net Neutrality, focused towards the youth of the country who are the real users of the Information Technology. Land Acquisition Bill , according to some experts is harsh one as it gives sweeping powers to the Central Government in governing the matters relating to the land thereby denying the farming community provisions for appeal and legal intervention in the contents of the Bill. Moreover it will not come appropriate in the eyes of law.
2. Modi factor
Strategically, Rajnath Singh the then supremo of BJP and the present supremo Amit Shah went ahead in getting L . K Advani ousted from the ‘National political scenario’ and started projecting Narender Bhai Modi as the Prime Ministerial face- before the people of the country from their organisational side. At the root level the entire cadre, rank and file of BJP worked very hard day and night. Ultimately in the 16th Lok Sabha Elections- 2014, BJP got the majority on its own thereby passing over the magic figure of 272 MPs for forming the strong and stable government at the Centre. PM Narender Modi is very much in action since he assumed the office of the Prime Minister of the largest democracy of the world. He is still on the crease and batting nicely and in place and running the Union Government smoothly and effectively. He gave top priority in building good relations with other countries of the world. After becoming the Prime Minister of India , he paid visits to Nepal twice and other countries only once . The countries visited by him so far are , Australia , Bhutan , Brazil, Canada , Fijji , France , Germany , Japan , Mauritius, Mayanar Seycheles, Singapore Sri Lanka and USA. Accepting the verdict of the people. It seems that almost all the political parties have undergone hibernation. They are in the field and not doing anything concrete for the welfare of the people of the country but instead very much busy in settling their own scores. In a parliamentary democratic system, they have a definite role to play but they are not doing so. Indian National Congress ( INC) after remaining under hibernation for a period of some months or so, came out fully prepared to give befitting reply to Modi Government on Land Acquisition Bill which was under hectic debate in the Lok Sabha. As is evident from the record of the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi always remained at the low profile but this time he spoke at length against the Land Acquisition Bill.
3. Need of the hour
The need of the hour in our parliamentary democracy is that there should be some unity among other political parties besides Congress, of course in giving tough resistance to Modi lest he be not turned as a dictator. Leaving aside their ego conflicts , the political parties like CPI, CPI (M), TMC , NCP, besides Janta Parivar should take Kejriwal into confidence and join their hands together in giving befitting reply to the NDA as an alternative . It is to be seen will the opposition parties come together on a single point agenda of challenging the BJP lobby including its PM Modi Shortly coming Bihar, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu elections are the main challenge for them in proving their credentials against Modi and the NDA. But certainly one thing is there that a ray of hope to the opposition is generated with the victory of Kejriwal in Delhi Elections – 2015 that BJP is beatable . The old and experienced leaderships of all these parties should take the helping hand of AAP and its founder Arvind Kejriwal in having a first alternative to BJP before Indian National Congress (INC) – the second alternative. At the same time, one can expect a three party system in the country which would be fruitful as a whole It is in this backdrop, all the political parties other than the BJP and the INC should unite together for making a way for launching the third political alternative in the country just on the pattern of the United Kingdom (UK) without wasting any further time. In the recently held elections in UK, Tory Party has won the elections again . There is smooth and quite sail in the Govt. set up . Modi is facing tough resistance from the INC and other political parties in the Parliament regarding Land Acquisition Bill brought by his party for its passage . The Bill, in question , is of very important nature as it is directly connected with the very existence of the farmer of this land and stands referred to Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). GST Bill stands cleared by Lok Sabha and a nod is awited from Rajya Sabha.
As per the inputs available BJP has a soft corner for the corporate who supported them whole heartedly in the Lok Sabha elections – 2014. Since they have come in power with their support now Modi Government wants to give them some consideration at the cost of the farmer . INC and all the non BJP parties of the country are not in favour of this Bill as they termed this Bill as anti- farmer.
