In the new Parliament, is Modi's policy program in jeopardy? What might now occur with certain of his keys ...
As the first legislative session of Modi 3.0 got underway, there were indications of a growing rift between the opposition and the BJP-led government. A unified opposition, which secured roughly 230 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats, is objecting to the BJP's choice of a temporary speaker of parliament and is raising awareness of the growing controversy surrounding entrance examinations.
For the first time in ten years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party was unable to secure an absolute majority in parliament, putting his expansive domestic program in peril and requiring it to form an alliance with other parties and deal with an enlarged opposition bench.
Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party has ruled with absolute majorities for the past ten years. During that time, the party has pushed through policies that detractors claim have advanced its majoritarian agenda. Following the electoral defeat, some of the unfinished policies on that agenda might now need to be reassessed or abandoned.
At the beginning of the first parliamentary session since the election results earlier this month, there were evident signs of enmity between the opposition and the BJP-led government on Monday. In addition to challenging the BJP's choice of a temporary speaker of parliament, a united opposition that secured roughly 230 of the 543 seats in the lower chamber, the Lok Sabha, is also criticizing a developing scandal involving college entrance examinations.
"Together, we shall fulfill that obligation and further fortify the people's trust," Modi declared. "We want to preserve the sanctity of the constitution while moving forward and making decisions more quickly by bringing everyone together."
Modi and the BJP were charged by the opposition alliance, headed by the Indian National Congress, with destroying the constitution. As opposition members took the oath of office on Monday, Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party led them in holding up copies of the constitution.
Gandhi told reporters, "Our message is getting through: no power can touch the Indian constitution."
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