In his first address after officially assuming a job that had been empty for ten years, India’s new opposition leader Rahul Gandhi declared on Wednesday that his MPs will not be intimidated.
Gandhi is the main opponent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Other opposition MPs nominated Gandhi to the role as a show of their renewed challenge to the administration.
Gandhi made the statement, “The government has political power, but the opposition also represents the voice of India’s people,” in front of his party’s legislators seated in the lower chamber of parliament, to applause.
“The opposition this time around represents a notably larger voice of the Indian people.” Gandhi’s once-dominant Congress party did not have enough members of the legislature to qualify him for the position in either of the previous two parliaments.
After his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won landslide victories in both of his previous stints in office, Modi’s government was able to ram bills through parliament with little to no debate.
But in this year’s election, the BJP managed to win just 240 seats, which is 32 seats short of a majority and its lowest performance in ten years. As a result, it had to rely on coalition partners to give it a 293-seat majority in the lower house’s 543 seats.
After his election loss, 73-year-old Modi on Monday appealed to a strengthened opposition for “consensus.”
“Preserve the Constitution”
Gandhi, 54, helped his Congress party nearly treble its parliamentary numbers by defying analysts’ predictions and exit polls. Its best performance since Modi stormed to office in 2014 was achieved, pulling it out of the political wilderness.
Gandhi addressed veteran BJP member Om Birla, who was reelected to the speakership of the previous parliament on Wednesday, saying, “We would like the house to function often and well.”
He continued, “It is crucial that cooperation be built on a foundation of trust.” “Encouraging the opposition to have a voice in this house is crucial.”
All important cabinet positions are still held by Modi’s BJP, but observers predict he will have to work inside his coalition to find agreement in order to get more divisive laws through the legislature.
Gandhi explained to Birla that the speaker’s job was to guarantee that democratic discourse flourished in addition to facilitating the enactment of laws. “How well the residence is run is not the question. How much of India’s voice is permitted to be heard in this chamber is the question. stated Gandhi.
He went on, “It is a non-democratic idea that you can run the house efficiently by silencing the voice of the opposition.” “This election has demonstrated that the Indian people expect the opposition to uphold the nation’s constitution.”
