In a powerful speech in the Rajya Sabha yesterday, Congress leader P Chidambaram said that in repealing Article 370 and ‘dismembering’ J&K the government was unleashing forces it cannot control; and notwithstanding the drum beats on the streets today, in time this would prove not a victory but a catastrophic blunder.

Those so-called drum beats on the streets appear to be swaying many in his own party. Spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi actually acknowledged how the party’s opposition to the nullification of Article 370 would find little support among states other than J&K. But here the last man standing, he suggested, is not the one who is in the wrong.

In a further blow to Congress, its chief whip in the Rajya Sabha Bhubaneshwar Kalita resigned, saying the party was acting against the mood of the nation. Some other Congress leaders also voiced dissent and supported the government moves.

Congress is attempting to firm up an opposition stand against the government. But the portents are unfavourable. Parties like TDP, AAP and BSP supported the government in Rajya Sabha yesterday. TMC and JD(U) spoke up against hollowing out Article 370, but ultimately didn’t vote against the government, their resistance went only as far as walkouts.

In taking ownership of ‘nationalist’ causes with strong popular underpinnings BJP has made things quite difficult for the opposition. But the fact is that there are significant doubts about how recent government moves will affect our republic. Has India betrayed the promises of its Constitution? Isn’t there now a precedent for demoting other states to Union territories? Such questions are being asked by countless citizens. They deserve representation in Parliament. For this reason it is further essential that opposition regroup, rather than continuing to weaken.

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