Opinion Dear Opposition parties, if you can’t cash in on this demonetisation mess…

In an opposition party meet announced by the Congress party in Delhi, the parties attending included Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), former prime minister H D Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular), JMM and AIUDF. The absentees were heavyweights in their own right too. Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, Left parties, Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party among others.

Gandhi has been unable to bind together a strong opposition against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government’s demonetisation decision. The opposition within the opposition is highlighted by the fact that many parties, including some allies in states, skipped the opposition meeting citing a variety of reasons like lack of coordination or consultation with stakeholders. Mamata shared the dias with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi at the following press conference while Congress’ ally in Bihar Nitish Kumar abstained from attending. CPM and Left parties in West Bengal, Congress’ allies in the last West Bengal elections, abstained from attending.

The coherence in opposition is still lacking. Due to this internal division, they would fail to cause much headache to PM Modi. That would defeat the Opposition’s purpose.

Halfway into his first term as prime minister, Modi definitely played the biggest gamble by implementing demonetisation. The returns were mixed with staunch opposition accompanied by fervent appreciation for the initiative. However, opposition parties have remained critical of his decision going to the extent of saying corruption has increased after demonetisation and that the step was taken to benefit some influential families in the country.

A lot of mud slinging has been witnessed across the country from all political parties after demonetisation. But, most protests have been scattered. Parliament was a picture of chaos and no constructive opposition was projected during winter session. Now that Congress is reduced to a weak position, it is understandable that other opposition parties will not like it to be the flag bearer of the Opposition and hence skip the meeting. However, a time will come soon when it will have to unite against the BJP to gain ground, unless the ruling party commits a monumental mistake. Till that time, I think the BJP can sit tight and watch the Opposition pull itself down.