How would you analyse the O pposition’s performance in the last three years?

I think the Opposition needs to wake up and smell the coffee. There is no dearth of issues for the Opposition to marshal its resources to make this government more accountable – on the promises it has made, and the measurable deliverables it has actually yielded. First, I think the Opposition has a very fractured unity. Second, it has poor coordination mechanisms. Third, I think the opposition isn’t being able to present a robust counter-narrative, and fourth, I think it is reactive. In other words, it reacts to the agenda being set by the government in power rather than simultaneously also positing an alternative paradigm of politics. Now, unless all of these things come together, I think the Opposition is missing an opportunity because in the three years that we have seen, there were several vital issues that the Opposition could have given a higher profile to.

Would you agree that every time, the Opposition manages to get embroiled in a sentimental argument instead of using facts to hold the government accountable?

There are two aspects here. The first is that this government has perfected – or at least, vastly improved upon earlier governments – the art of projection, promotion, publicity and hype. Even partial achievements are projected so high that sometimes, I wonder whether the Opposition itself gets mesmerised by the government’s propaganda. There are issues which need to go beyond merely what the government is saying. For instance, I will give you two very important examples. First, the entire agrarian sector is in crisis. We have farmers committing suicide. Some statistics say a farmer commits suicide over debt every 30 minutes. Yet, this government is celebrating its three-year anniversary when 60 percent of the people of this country have livelihoods that are linked to agriculture. In fact, the Shiv Sena, which is an ally of the BJP, questioned the need to celebrate three years at a time when so many people in our farming sector are in great distress.

If an arithmetic coalition won’t work, what will?

I think we need to think about this question. You have to ask yourself whether you need, perhaps, a new leader, a new anchorage. You have to ask yourselves whether you need to move out from the known polarities and create a new forum. It’s happened in other countries. It has happened, for instance, in France, spectacularly – Emmanuel Macron created a new party months before the election. People from both the left and the right of the political spectrum joined it, and he won a landslide victory. I think the Opposition needs to begin to think out of the box. The BJP has the leadership, and it has incumbency momentum. It has an organised cadre, many of whom hold an ideological conviction, whether we agree with it or not. Be it Hindurashtra or Hindutva or whatever, there is an ideological conviction that is moving them. What is on the other side? Do we have the leadership? Do we have the grass-roots organisation? Do we have a nationwide, pan-Indian organisational structure? Do we have an ideological credo? Have you made the effort for a joint presentation of another form of politics? I don’t believe so.

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Opposition Needs to Wake up and Smell the Coffee: Pavan Varma

An arithmetic coalition won’t work. A new leader needs to emerge, insists Pavan Varma.

Aviral Virk

Updated: 26 May 2017, 1:04 PM IST

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As the Narendra Modi-led government turns three, The Quint spoke to Janata Dal (United) leader Pavan Varma to analyse the performance of the Opposition in the years since the NDA government assumed office.

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Topics: Nitish Kumar JDU Pavan Varma

Published: 25 May 2017, 4:34 PM IST