This refers to the article, “let’s have a left-mukt Bharat” (May 25) by Anirban Ganguly. Slogans like Congress-mukt Bharat or left-mukt Bharat are undemocratic as they sound like Opposition-mukt Bharat.
The existence of a strong Opposition is a must for parliamentary democracy. Generally, a ruling party gets much less than half of the popular mandate and Opposition parties have a huge support base even if that may not be reflected in the number of seats they win. Therefore, the Treasury bench, even if it has a brute majority, cannot ignore the Opposition.
Sri Aurobindo once said, “The weakness of a democracy is that its rule is based on majority consent, so there will always be a minority that is not satisfied with the condition of things. And if the minority loses the hope of becoming the majority, it may resort to force”. So, the majority must work for the welfare of the masses rather than attacking the hope of the Opposition.