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BJP Khabardar; Opposition Battle-Ready

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By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi: The hitherto invincible Bharatiya Janata Party is currently struggling to reconcile the reality that they not in majority and are in power at the mercy of two regional straps. For the party that was on a conquering splurge reluctant to comprehend that it has plunged from the pinnacle of majority to  the nadir of minority.  In the last Lok Sabha polls, it had boasted to win with over 400 seats out of the total 543, but eded up 32 short of simple majority.

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The party posed as champions of Hindutva, leading the juggernaut of Ram Mandir and harnessing the credit of building a massive temple for Lord Ram at his birth place, Ayodhya.  But could not win the hearts of Ram devotees and lost the Lok Sabha seat encompassing the very same holy Ayodhya. The saffron party in the successive bye elections to the state assembly lost Badrinath in Uttarakhand, another sacred pilgrim place for Hindus, to opposition Congress by a humiliating margin.  

Nevertheless, the saffron party and its top leadership including the Prime Minister have little remorse in losing the poll so pathetically. The party and its top bosses still continue with the same degree of vanity and smugness. Arrogance and egotism have become the hallmark of a party which claims “humility” and forthrightness. It has no qualms in defaming opponents and accepting “corrupt” leaders and its partners, “on need basis for usurping power.”

But “It is high time the BJP realises the reality that the current Opposition is not voiceless. They are   vociferous, belligerent and commanding. BJP, as of now, is on a weaker wicket. The current Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has remerged belligerent. He  is unyielding, obstinate and evolved as an astute politician” opines a veteran leader who worked for the saffron party for over six decades, from the days of its earlier avatar, Jansangh.

In fact, the BJP leader was hinting at the current poor plight of the party.  Till June 4th evening this year, until the results of the Lok Sabha polls were out,  the party was perceived as an indomitable political force in the country and its leaders invincible and impregnable.  Those were the days when the Opposition did not dare to respond to the Prime Minister’s open challenges both within in and outside the Houses.

 But it’s a paradox; the same Modi and associates are challenged in the Lok Sabha by the young opposition leaders  and the all-powerful Prime Minister who in the Upper House had made a statement daring the opposition-“Ek akela kitno pe bhari’  which is loosely translated as ‘ dare not challenge me, I can alone  confront all of you’  (PM Modi’s barb at Opposition in Rajya Sabha on December 03, 2023 after the electoral victory in three states),  was seen shaky and making feeble statements to the media, “An undemocratic attempt was made to throttle the voice of the government…. For two-and-a-half hours, attempts were made to scuttle the voice of the prime minister and such a thing has no place in democratic traditions. They have no remorse over it.”

He looked wobbly while complaining to a group of scribes in the parliament complex. Similarly the all prevailing Home Minister Amit Shah was pleading the Chair for “protection” from the “onslaught” of Opposition. This indicates the era of dominance is over and the Opposition is dominating. The Treasury Bench is no more in command and they are perturbed at the unprecedented aggressiveness of the Opposition.

Congress leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi never missed any chance to embarrass the party in power. While speaking on the Union Budget on Monday, he minced no words to directly accuse the Prime Minister of “creating an atmosphere of fear” across the country. “In the BJP only one man is allowed to dream to bePrime Minister, if the Defence Minister decides, he wants to be Prime Minister, there is a big problem, there is fear. So, this fear hasbeen spread throughout the country and the question I was asking myself was whyis this fear spreading so deeply? Why is it that my friends in the BJP are terrified, the ministers are terrified, the farmers of India are terrified, workers, youngsters…..”  Mr Gandhi has said in the house. Criticising Prime Minister Modi for overtly assisting a few handpicked corporates  to “monopolise” the “entire wealth of the nation” at the cost of small-timers  the LoP said in the Lower House, “If any person runs a small business in the whole country , then at night he gets a phone call from the Income TaxDepartment , GST and they use tax terrorism. ..Because of tax terrorism and these policies of yours, you helped big businesses during the time of Covid and destroyed small and mediumbusinesses, because of that today the youth of India are facing problems. Employment cannot be found.”

Mr Gandhi also criticised PM Modi on Agniveer and said “there is not a single rupee in this budget for the pension of Agniveer……You call yourself a patriot, but when it comes to helping Agniveers ,giving money to soldiers , you don’t see a single rupee in the budget. You did not give a single rupee for their pension.”Attacking PM Modi for neglecting farmers of the country in the current budget the LoP said, “You do not pay the right price (for the crops)….they have asked you for only one thing,  nottwo things, only one thing. They have said that give us a legallyguaranteed MSP. You have stopped them at the border. They stopped them. The roads are closed till today. You are not ready to talk to them. They came here(Parliament Complex), came to meet me , you are not letting themin….”

Further challenging the Prime Minister and the ruling alliance (NDA) Mr Gandhi declared in the Floor of the House, “I guarantee on behalf of India Alliance that we will get thiswork done. What you did not do in your budget, I want to tell all the farmers of India that we will give you the guaranteed legal MSP by passing itin this House.” Criticising the current budget, Mr Gandhi said that PM Modi has deceived the middle class that overwhelmingly supported the BJP. He said that the new tax proposals in reality was stabbingthem (middle class) from back and front simultaneously. “The indexation thatyou cancelled was a stab in the back and the capital gains tax that you increased was a stab in the chest. You increased the long term capital gains tax……. made the short term (tax) (from) 15 to 20 Percentage, stabbed. It is sad, but there is a hidden benefit in this for the India Alliance, the middleclass is now going to leave you and is coming to this side (INDIA).”It seems, the opposition, likethe voters, is looking well groomed to take on the once omnipotent BJP. 

The recent electoral outcome has amply displayed the will of the electorate that they cannot be swayed by reverberating slogans or Jumlas. The same people who were glued to the TV to listen the rabble rousing lectures of Modi are now branding him  a “braggart”,  and this paradigm shift in public perception might have strengthened the “young lads” in the opposition leadership to  take the invincible BJP  and its top leadership head on, publicly, assertively.

It’s time the BJP and its top leadership to introspect. Stop abusing and denigrating those opposed to the party and focus on people’s problems. It’s time the party to do brainstorming on modes to deal with the firebrand young opposition leaders, both within and outside the Houses. Politicians should never forget, “in a democracy people are the rightful masters and voters are the ultimate rulers.”

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