- Gandhi has been chosen by the opposition to challenge the Modi government.
- “The opposition represents a significantly larger voice of the Indian people.”
- Modi's BJP won just 240 seats as opposition leaders allied themselves.
India's new opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, said Wednesday in his first speech since formally taking over a post vacant for a decade that his lawmakers would not be silenced.
Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's main rival, was nominated to the post by fellow opposition lawmakers in a sign of a reinvigorated challenge to the government.
“The government has political power, but the opposition also represents the voice of the people of India,” Gandhi said in a speech in the lower house of parliament, accompanied by thumps of support from his party's lawmakers at their desks.
“This time, the opposition represents a significantly larger voice of the Indian people.” In the last two parliaments, Gandhi's once-powerful Congress party did not have enough seats in the legislature to qualify him for office.
Modi's first two terms followed landslide victories for his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), allowing his government to pass laws in parliament with only perfunctory debate.
However, the BJP won only 240 seats in this year's elections, its worst result in a decade and 32 seats short of a majority. That forced him to rely on coalition allies to build a 293-seat majority in the 543-seat lower house.
Modi, 73, appealed on Monday to an emboldened opposition in search of “consensus” after his electoral setback.
'Defend the constitution'
Gandhi, 54, defied the expectations of analysts and exit polls to help his Congress party nearly double its parliamentary numbers. It was his best result since Modi came to power in 2014 and rescued him from the political wilderness.
“We would like the House to function well and frequently,” Gandhi told veteran BJP lawmaker Om Birla, the speaker of the previous parliament, who was re-elected to the post on Wednesday.
“It is very important that cooperation is based on trust,” he added. “It is very important that the opposition's voice is allowed to be represented in this chamber.”
Modi's BJP still controls all key cabinet posts, but analysts say he will be forced to seek consensus within his coalition to push more contentious legislation through parliament.
Gandhi told Birla that the speaker's role was not only to facilitate the passing of laws but also to ensure that democratic debate flourished. “The question is not: how efficiently is the house run? The question is: how much of India's voice is allowed to be heard in this house?” Gandhi said.
“The idea that you can run the house efficiently by silencing the voice of the opposition is an undemocratic idea,” he added. “These elections have shown that the people of India expect the opposition to defend the constitution of this country.”
