Narendra Modi Delivered On Promises, But On Ground Delivery Is Poor

While the government will look to pass GST bills in the winter session of Parliament, demonetisation is expected to be the focus of the opposition's attack.

- Pratul Sharma And Soni Mishra

On November 2, when the Delhi Police detained Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi while he was trying to meet the family of Subedar Ram Kishan Grewal—an ex-serviceman who allegedly committed suicide citing delays in implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP)— the BJP sensed the pension issue could dent its election campaign in the five states going to the polls early next year. Soon, phone calls were made to BJP-friendly former Army generals—who were regular on television debates as defence experts—to counter criticism on implementation of the pension scheme.

Gandhi was again detained—three times in two days—along with other MPs, such as Deepender Hooda and Jyotiraditya Scindia, as they tried to meet the family. The police also detained Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for several hours. With this, the opposition had found an issue to corner the government in the month-long winter session of Parliament starting November 16. The mainstay of the attack, however, is expected to be the problems faced by ordinary people because of the demonetisation.

The Congress, the Trinamool Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party would press the government to debate demonetisation and the resultant cash shortage before transacting any business. On November 11, Gandhi stood in a queue outside a bank to show his solidarity with the people who had come to exchange their money. He is expected to lead the charge in Parliament, and he could be supported by other parties. The Left parties and the Aam Aadmi Party have already accused the government of leaking the demonetisation decision to certain people.