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4 News the Newsbehind JULY 08, 2019pre-eminent status - even without a
formal offi ce - will it not result in the
emergence of multiple power centres
in the party? Th e resignation may have
ended one phase in Congress’ turbulent
politics, but the next phase may well be
more challenging.”
BJP WANTS TO MAKE THE
CONGRESS IRRELEVANT
Th e immediate challenge will come
from the BJP seeking to totally fi nish
the Gandhi family. Th e BJP sees Rahul
Gandhi’s resignation as a big victory.
After all, writes Anita Katyal, political
analyst, “Rahul Gandhi’s resignation is
the culmination of the ruling party’s
decade-long strategy to discredit the
Nehru-Gandhi scion and project
him as a non-serious politician with
virtually no leadership qualities.........
According to the BJP’s calculations, the
Congress would automatically unravel
if it is not helmed by Rahul Gandhi or
any other family member given how
the party is shackled to the Gandhis.
Factional battles are bound to intensify
as second and third-rung leaders fi ght
one another for party posts.”
Th e BJP’s next project, according
to Katyal “will be to ensure that the
Nehru-Gandhi family is rendered
politically irrelevant so that the dynasty
is in no position to stage a comeback
and take charge of the party again.”
Consequently, the “big challenge
before the Gandhi family is to guard
against its irrelevance......Th e Gandhis
can ill-aff ord to lose total control of
the Congress as their political survival
depends on it.”
But for the present, as he departs,
Gandhi leaves the impression that he is
an honourable man, and that he’s also a
moral man, one who doesn’t fl inch from
a fi ght he deems just, and one who likes
to stand up for his principles even if he
must stand alone.
But the Congress today is a week
party that has structurally come apart
due to corpulent times that were
also corrupt times where those who
flourished did so on account of an
inner culture of patronage and clique
politics, in which the worker on the
ground suff ered long-term neglect. Th e
challenge for the party is leadership and
fi nding a way to re-invent itself.PARLIAMENTARY
DEMOCRACY AND ROLE OF
THE OPPOSITION
Despite a heavy mandate in the
lower house - the Lok Sabha, the
BJP still does not have a majority in
the Upper House - the Rajya Sabha.
And with the Opposition, repeatedly
obstructing legislation, this has led to
a stalemate on many important Bills.
In his reply to the Motion of Th anks
to the President’s address in the Rajya
Sabha, Prime Minister Modi let his
frustrations known.
Modi, writes Parsa Venkateshwar
Rao Jr, political analyst “spoke in
ominous tones when he said that the
people had given his party a majority
in the Lok Sabha, and that the Rajya
Sabha, where the BJP did not have the
majority, should respect the people’s
mandate and pass the bills that have
gone through the Lok Sabha. He
complained, which was a normal thing
to do, that the government could
not push important bills through the
Rajya Sabha, because the Opposition
had stalled them. Acknowledging the
Upper House is a part of the federal
structure of the Constitution, he said
that the Upper House should respect
the mandate that the people had
given to the BJP in the Lok Sabha.
He was implying that it was not right
that his party, which commands an
overwhelming majority in the Lok
Sabha, should face a hurdle in the Rajya
Sabha. Th e clear implication was that
a bill passed in the Lok Sabha shouldnecessarily go through the Rajya Sabha
as well.”
Th e prime minister’s impatience
with the Opposition’s majority in the
Rajya Sabha may be understandable,
but not justifi ed, according to Rao.
“Th ere is a fundamental issue at stake
in Mr Modi’s argument about the Rajya
Sabha. He is saying indirectly that the
Rajya Sabha, whatever the strength
of the political parties, should fall in
line with the spirit of the mandate as
refl ected in the Lok Sabha...” If the
Rajya Sabha conforms to the Lower
House, it “becomes redundant......
the Upper House should display its
own sense of judgment, which can
sometimes coincide with that of the
Lower House, and differ at other
times......”
At the same time, there is a
responsibility with the Opposition
parties of not “obstructing legitimate
bills in the Rajya Sabha after they were
passed in the Lok Sabha, something that
the BJP did when it was in Opposition.
Th ose obstructionist tactics are indeed
frustrating, but they cannot be used to
argue the case the Upper House must
fall in line with the Lower House.”
OPPOSITION’S CRUCIAL
ROLE IN LOWER HOUSE
In a parliamentary democracy
that India is, the ideal is when both
Houses take their role seriously as
representatives of the people. The
onus is on the government as well as
the Opposition. Mahesh Rangarajan
(researcher, author and Professor of
History & Environmental Studies,
Ashoka University) reminds that
democracy “thrives best when a stable
government faces a strong opposition.
While the fi rst sets the tone and tenor
of public life and steers the ship of the
state, the latter has a role as vital. It
checks, balances, debates, puts forth
alternative points of view and gives
direction to grievances of citizens in
everyday life.”