NO FULL STOPS IN INDIA

Bit by bit, the Opposition alliance has managed to slow down the BJP juggernaut, if not bring it to a halt. Now it plans to capitalise on those gains to attain its aim of edging Modi out entirely

- KAUSHIK DEKA

A viral video of 25-year-old Sanjana Jatav breaking into a dance after winning the Lok Sabha election from Bharatpur in Rajasthan became a shining example of how the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) succeeded in pushing the ruling BJP’s national tally below the 272 majority mark. The wife of a police constable, Sanjana defeated the BJP’s Ramswaroop Koli in the seat reserved for Scheduled Castes, ending the party’s run of two consecutive victories there. She is one of the 19 Congresspersons elected to the lower house of Parliament from SC-reserved seats.

Her victory is not just about adding numerical strength to Opposition forces, it will also ensure that the brute majority of the ruling party cannot silence them in Parliament. Indeed, the Opposition parties are all geared up to corner the third Narendra Modi government as was evident in a special conference convened by Rahul Gandhi two days after the poll results were announced. Citing the unnatural exuberance in the stock markets after the exit poll results and the crash on June 4, the Congress leader accused Modi and his No. 2 Amit Shah of being involved in a stock market scam to help industrialist Gautam Adani and demanded a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the entire episode. It’s obvious that the Congress senses the new government may not be in a position to ignore Opposition demands as it did in the past five years. Rahul said as much: “The Opposition is much stronger now. The situation in Parliament has changed. The prime minister cannot function with the same impunity any more.”