(Image source from: Narendra Modi to face one of the weakest Oppositions in Lok Sabha})

The first session of 16th Lok Sabha in New Delhi has started under the leadership of prime minister Narendra Modi. Thanks to the Modi wave, the lower house has a very strong NDA government that was voted to power with a massive majority. Not only that, the new Lok Sabha has quite a few first time MPs with no previous parliamentary experience. It means that PM Modi will face the weakest Oppositions in Lok Sabha in the history of independent India.

The massive mandate to the Modi government not only ensured a shrunk opposition, but also reduced the opposition to a feeble voice. Added to it the current Lok Sabha has a fair smattering of celebrities like Moon Moon Sen, who are high on eye candy and low on parliamentary experience. Also it has first timers like Dimple Yadav (daughter-in-law of Mulayam Singh Yadav) who would be no match to the political stalwarts in Parliament.

The Congress has been decimated to 44 MPs in the Lok Sabha and cannot provide a meaningful opposition. The other larger block in Parliament are that of Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC), J. Jayalalithaa's AIADMK and Naveen Patnaik's BJD. Jayalalithaa may join the NDA, so it remains on Mamata's TMC and  Patnaik's BJD to work as an effective opposition.

However, the TMC has the sent MPs like the former glamour queen Moon Moon Sen, actress Sandhya Roy,  action hero Dev and others to the Lok Sabha. They can only work up the paparazzi into a frenzy and will most probably not make any meaningful contribution as members of the opposition.

Mamata's celebrity politicians are nothing like the cine stars of the South who turn their box office popularity into electoral dividends. Ranabir Samaddar, head of the Calcutta Research Group, says that Mamata's approach to celebrity politicians is very different. She considers them to be "guest politicians" who get to represent TMC as a reward for their work in any field - acting, a singing or sports. According to Samaddar, Mamata’s philosophy is simple – the celebrities are being recognised for their work. It's a way of saying that we are proud of you. But she doesn’t want to get them into politics permanently.

The TMC also has the Saradha chit fund scam and the CBI investigation into it, working as a Damocles sword hanging over its head. The Saradha scam and celebrity MPs have rendered the TMC into a weak opposition to the Modi government.

A weak opposition is not a new phenomena in the historically of Indian parliament. It was only in 1969, halfway into the fourth Lok Sabha, that the country got its first Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha. Even Rajiv Gandhi came to power with a massive mandate of 414 seats in 1984. What ails the present Lok Sabha is the lack of an intellectual opposition with oratorical prowess.

Rajiv Gandhi faced the intellectual change of the likes of Charan Singh,  Biju Patnaik, Madhu Dandavate, Indrajit Gupta in the parliament. Besides there were politicians like Ram Manohar Lohia, C. Rajagopalachari, Hiren Mukherjee and Madhu Limaye from the Nehru days. They challenged the government of the day as Opposition leaders.

Compared to them, the 16th Lok Sabha has politicians like Deve Gowda, Shashi Tharoor, Tariq Anwar and Mohammad Salim. They will no doubt questioning the government’s performance. But  are not stalwarts like the yesteryear opposition leaders who could shake governments with their fearless opposition, knowledge of governance and pointed arguments.

The Aam Aadmi Party could have been a strong opposition, but the party could not send any of its  firebrand leaders to the Parliament. It's four MPs will hardly be an opposition force. The likes of  Yogendra Yadav or Arvind Kejriwal could have challenged the NDA government, but they are not a part of the Lok Sabha.

However, the country can rest assured that the current Lok Sabha will be conducted with fewer disruptions than theprevious ones. It will keep the Speaker happy. And Narendra Modi will be happiest because he can work freely toward fulfilling the promises he has made.

(AW: Pratima Tigga)