By chhotebhai
Kanpur, June 30, 2024: Has the dust begun to settle or the temperature begun to rise, despite the advancing monsoon? This weather barometer is political not climatic.
With the elections over, the Union Cabinet in place, the Speaker also elected and proceedings in the Lok Sabha having begun, what’s left to write home about? The allegations of arrogance and obduracy shown by Om Birla, the re-elected Speaker, are a harbinger of things to come.
Having been severely bruised at the hustings Prime Minister Modi is like a wounded tiger that is far more dangerous than a healthy one in the wild. Wounded tigers turn to soft targets that they can easily hunt down, or could even become man eaters. So, danger lurks around the corner.
Having retained his core team in the Council of Ministers, and re-electing the Speaker, the message is clear. Don’t show any signs of weakness. To the contrary, harden your face to disguise the fear.
Rahul Gandhi, the Pappu of yore and lore, has finally assumed responsibility by accepting to be the Leader of the Opposition (LOP). How he lives up to that role, or lives up to expectations, only time will tell.
In Britain, considered the mother of parliamentary democracy, the Opposition forms a Shadow Cabinet to keep tabs on the government. The LOP is referred to as the Shadow Prime Minister. I am now taking the liberty to propose a shadow cabinet for the Opposition, comprising of MPs from the constituents of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc.
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1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi / Rahul Gandhi (Congress) the LOP
2. Home Minister Amit Shah / Mallikarjun Kharge (Cong) president of the party
3. Defence Minister Rajnath Sing / Akhilesh Yadav (SP); his father held this post, he himself studied in a Sainik School, and his wife Dimple comes from an army background
4. Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar / Who better than Shashi Tharoor (Cong) with his experience in the UN?
5. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman / P Chidambaram (Cong) former Finance Minister
6. Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan / Avdhesh Prasad (SP) the giant killer from Faizabad (Ayodhya)
7. Roadways, Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari/ John Brittas (CPIM) Rajya Sabha member, erudite speaker and activist
8. Health & Family Welfare Minister J.P. Nadda / Kanimozhi Karunanidhi (DMK)
9. Law & Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal / Kapil Sibal (SP) President of the Supreme Court Bar Association
10. Railways Information & Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnav / K.C. Venugopal (Cong)
11. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan / Km Shelja (Cong)
12. Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal / Mahua Moitra (TMC) with her background as a former banker
13. Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav / Jairam Ramesh (Cong) has held this post in the past
14. Women & Child Development Minister Annapurna Devi / Supriya Sule (NCP)
15. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju / Manish Tewari (Cong) eminent lawyer
16. Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju & George Kurien / Rakibul Hussain (Cong) who won with a margin of over 1 million votes
17. Civil Aviation Minister K.R. Naidu / Gaurav Gogoi (Cong)
18. Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia / Priyanka Chaturvedi (SS) powerful spokesperson
Of the above 10 are from the Congress, 3 from the SP and 1 each from the CPIM, DMK, TMC, NCP and SS, which is largely reflective of the Opposition coalition. This list of course is neither exhaustive nor exclusive. I intend sending it to the heads of the various constituents of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, in the hope that they will indeed form a Shadow Cabinet.
For a healthy democracy a strong government and a vibrant opposition are equally important. It is in this spirit of democracy that I have penned these thoughts. Jai Hind.
(The writer is the convener of the Indian Catholic Forum)
Regarding Chhotebhai’s observation “Having retained his (Modi’s) core team in the Council of Ministers, and re-electing the Speaker, the message is clear. Don’t show any signs of weakness. To the contrary, harden your face to disguise the fear”, one clearly noticed the uneasiness of the ruling party when the PM made a hasty exit when TMC MP Mahua Moitra’s began her characteristic fact-filled speech dissecting the tall claims of the NDA government. Link: https://youtu.be/iE2NkOWZFwE
Regarding Leader of the Opposition (LOP), the Lok Sabha did not officially recognize a Leader of the Opposition until 1969. The position was vacant between 1970 and 1977, between 1980 and 1989 and between 2014 and 2024. In this Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi of the Congress Party has been appointed LOP in the Lok Sabha, thus filling a post that had been vacant for a decade.
Readers might be interested in the salary and allowances of LOP. The the website https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/1622/3/A1977-33.pdf
on THE SALARY AND ALLOWANCES OF LEADERS OF OPPOSITION IN PARLIAMENT ACT, 1977 mentions:
Opposition shall, so long as he continues as such Leader, be entitled to receive a salary per month and allowance for each day at the same rates as are specified in section 3 of the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954 (30 of 1954) with respect to members of Parliament.
It also states:
Residence for Leaders of Opposition.—(1) Each Leader of the Opposition shall, so long as he continues as such Leader and for a period of one month immediately thereafter, be entitled without payment of rent to the use of a furnished residence and no charge shall fall on the Leader of the Opposition personally in respect of the maintenance of such residence.
Several websites including Wikipedia state that of the Leader of Opposition (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) is Rs 3,30,000/- per month excluding allowances. This figure could not be verified even from the available GoI links.
Though India is tom-tommed as the largest democracy in the world, the PM shows scant respect for the Opposition (‘Opposition-mukt-Bharat’) including questioning the intelligence of the LOP (Balak Buddhi). But in the UK the importance of the Opposition in the system of parliamentary government has long received recognition in the procedure of Parliament. Even before the first Reform Act, the phrase ‘His Majesty’s Opposition’ had been coined by John Cam Hobhouse. A salary was first granted to the LOP by the Ministers of the Crown Act 1937. On 1 April 2017, the salary was worth £64,029. Since 1965, provision has been made for the payment of a salary to the Opposition Chief Whip, and in 1972 this provision was extended to cover not more than two Assistant Opposition Whips. On 1 April 2017, the salary of the Opposition Chief Whip was worth £33,490 and that of the Assistant Opposition Whips £19,523. THESE SALARIES ARE IN ADDITION TO THEIR SALARY AS MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT.
The Leader of the Opposition and some of the Leader’s principal colleagues in both Houses form a group, known as ‘the Shadow Cabinet’, each member of which is given a particular range of activities on which it is their task to direct criticism of the Government’s policy and administration and to outline alternative policies. Since 1975, the Official Opposition has been entitled to financial assistance (known as ‘Short Money’) to help meet, among other expenses, the running costs of the office of the Leader of the Opposition. The Leader of the Opposition is also provided with a suite of offices at Westminster. The Opposition has the right to exercise the initiative in selecting the subject of debate on a certain number of days in each session and/or from time to time by putting down motions of no confidence. The LOP is by custom accorded certain rights in asking questions of Ministers, and members of the Shadow Cabinet and other Official Opposition spokespersons are also given some precedence in asking questions.
In India this is not the case. There is clear lack of mutual self-respect with current ruling dispensation being hell-bent on riding roughshod over the Opposition.
The good thing is, we now see Democracy breathing again in the Parliament. Even the Speaker, who had always forgotten his duty as duty as custodian of democracy inside the house is now seen much mellowed down. This is what it takes when numbers are competitive
A thoughtful article. A shadow cabinet is necessary in a vibrant democracy. Also a training ground for the opposition. A great idea but wishful thinking?