The role of the opposition

India's opposition in the 1950s was more varied than in many democracies: socialists, communists, Hindu nationalists, regional and caste-based parties. Almost every major party today traces its roots to one of them.

In Parliament they won only token representation, a handful of seats each. But their role was much bigger than their numbers:

• They criticised the Congress government steadily and on principle, questioning its policies and actions.
• They kept the ruling party in check, and their pressure changed the balance of power between factions inside the Congress.
• By keeping a democratic alternative alive, they stopped people's anger with the government from turning into anti-democratic forms like violence or support for dictatorship.
• They groomed leaders who later shaped Indian politics.

There was also mutual respect between the government and the opposition. Nehru's first cabinet included leaders from outside the Congress: B.R. Ambedkar and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, who later founded the Jana Sangh. Nehru took opposition criticism seriously and often praised his opponents.

Sadly, as party competition grew sharper in later decades, this personal respect between rivals declined.

The lesson: in a democracy, a small opposition can still have real influence. Its job is not only to win power but to hold the government to account.