The field of politicians is not limited to the social media only, as they have to go to the grassroot level in order to sensitise people about various issues. This may be considered as one of the basics of Politics…
A senior leader of the Indian National Congress – the main Opposition Party – recently asked her party members not to forget this basic thing! At the same time, she acknowledged the importance of the social media (even in the field of Politics) in ‘modern’ India. However, she made it clear that it would be impossible to work for the betterment of the people only by being aggressive on Twitter…

Working at the grassroot level forms the basic character of the Indian politics. However, the growing popularity of the social media has hit this particular feature of the Indian politics. Instead of holding meetings, organising rallies and staging protests, the Indian politicians are launching attacks against their (political) opponents through the social media. The senior Congress leader has rightly realised that such sluggishness will not be beneficial especially for the Parties currently sitting in the bench of Opposition. She also advised other Opposition parties to go to the people and to regain their trust. Perhaps, the Congress leader is worried about the condition of the Opposition Politics in India.
How the Oppositions would strategise their moves is absolutely their own consideration. However, it is important for them to fulfill the demands of Opposition Politics. When the Government policies fail to deliver good for the people, the Opposition leaders concentrate only on the social media, thus, wasting the opportunity to corner the Government with the help of public support. The Indian economy is going through a tough time. Unfortunately, the Economists, and not the Leaders in Opposition – raise their voices against the Economic Policies adopted by the Government of India. The leaders in Opposition had both time and opportunity to strengthen their relations with the public ahead of the 17th General Elections held in April-May 2019. However, they, seemingly, became active only on the social media…

The role of the Oppositions is crucial, as well as essential, in the Indian democratic structure. Their task is not only to criticise the Government, but to maintain the checks and balances, to explain the Government policies to the people, and to form public opinion against wrong Government policies. Most importantly, the Opposition Parties also have a duty to force the Government to listen the voices of those who cast votes against the ruling party. Of course, one can criticise the Government on social media… but, it won’t help the person reach the marginalised people. In fact, it allows the Government to hide its mistakes.
If Opposition politicians fail to reach people and engage themselves in the virtual world, then it is not a good news for democracy!

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boundlessoceanofpolitics/

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/kousdas?s=09

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Linkedin:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/boundless-ocean-of-politics

Contact us: kousdas@gmail.com

Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das