The News
For the first time in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure, India has an official opposition leader.
The post had lain vacant because no party won enough seats in parliament to take it up — until the opposition surged in this year’s election, dealing a blow to Modi and raising the profile of his chief rival, Rahul Gandhi.
While Modi still holds power, Gandhi’s new position gives him access to key meetings and documents, a voice in official government business, and legitimacy, analysts said.
It also sets up a dynamic where “politics in India will be all about Modi versus Rahul,” The Economic Times wrote. It also bolsters India’s democratic credentials, a Bangalore-based political scientist said: “We were missing that in the last two terms.”
