Righteousness and politicising SC verdict on demonetisation will not help opposition but BJP

The verdict of demonetisation by the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court was neither surprising nor shocking. The majority verdict and the dissenting one upheld that the Central government had every right to take the decision and the decision was valid. However, the dissenting judge NV Nagarathna observed that this decision violated legal and procedural norms. The opposition political parties and most importantly Congress have started to politicise the verdict based on the dissenting judge’s observations. Such political righteousness is detrimental and will be of no use to electoral benefit. The politics of over demonetisation has failed again and again. Now as the issue has a legal closure, the opposition should move on and accept that it was not an illegitimate decision by the Narendra Modi-led central government. Now, in terms of the plight and sufferings of the people, the issues were in front of everyone. Neither the opposition nor the ruling regime should overlook the sufferings due to the suddenness of the decision. Similarly, criticising the government based on the impact of demonetisation on the people was much needed. But it is pertinent to note that the opposition had repeatedly termed the decision as illegal. Post demonetisation, then Congress’ deputy leader of Rajya Sabha, Anand Sharma told the house, “The Prime Minister’s sensational and theatrical announcement of 8 November on demonetisation had no legal sanctity as the monetary policy is the domain of the Reserve Bank of India.” The majority verdict of the Supreme Court has put a closure to this argument and rightly so. Arbitrary righteousness is deceptive The political righteousness of the opposition, specifically the Congress, has become pervasive and commonplace in India. This issue does not imply that opposition parties should not criticise or oppose the government. However, the opposition’s repeated assertions that the Modi administration has made illegitimate decisions on every issue, particularly about its policies, are deceptive. From demonetisation to Rafael deals and farm laws, the opposition has yet to win a court case establishing that these decisions are unlawful or fraudulent. The central government has every right to make decisions, including tough ones at times. Such outcomes are subject to protest, and the government must be criticised. However, this becomes problematic if the opposition continues to mislead the public about the legal sanctity of every decision. DeMo verdict’s political implications for opposition The opposition parties in India should carefully select their battles. Today, Congress has already begun to politicise the demonetization decision based on the dissenting opinion. In 2017, the issue of demonetisation was used in a number of electoral contests, but it did not aid the opposition very much. It is time for the opposition to realise that reiterating efforts to politicise demonetisation will have no effect on the upcoming election. It is also essential to recognise that the Supreme Court’s authority, in this case, was limited. The Supreme Court stated that it will not cross the Lakshman Rekha. The central government has the authority to make economic decisions. There is no doubt that many individuals suffered as a result of panic, implementation, lack of infrastructure, etc. Post-demonetisation, the banks were overburdened, and the pensioners, labourers, and common people faced obstacles. In reality, however, opposition political parties did not exert pressure on the government to restructure the banking system or build an infrastructure that would prevent strong economic decisions from harming the common people. The opposition simply politicised the decision to attack PM Narendra Modi. When Rahul Gandhi was Congress president, he began his attacks on the prime minister. The opposition has not been aided in any election by personal attacks on the prime minister or by focusing the entire campaign on the PM. Similarly, if Congress and the opposition believe that the demonetisation verdict will help them in any way to attack the prime minister, it will harm them electorally. Gain for BJP However, the verdict will aid the Bharatiya Janata Party in the forthcoming elections. Similarly, if the opposition continues to politicise the majority verdict based on the dissenting vote, the Bharatiya Janata Party will gain momentum for a new narrative. In the upcoming elections, the BJP will begin by claiming that the entire opposition, led by Congress, misled the public regarding demonetisation. Second, the failure of the opposition to focus on the actual plights of the people as a result of demonetisation will aid the BJP in relegating debates over whether or not the objectives of demonetisation were achieved to the background. The opposition criticises the Modi administration for the country’s deteriorating economic condition and the escalating cost of essentials such as LPG, petrol, and diesel. The government is also questioned regarding the unemployment issue. This verdict will assist the BJP in establishing a narrative that the government’s economic policies are effective at this time. Moving on The Supreme Court’s verdict on demonetization contains numerous lessons. The opposition political parties in India must recognise that the suffering of individuals as a result of a policy cannot render the decision unlawful. The legality or legal sanctity of policies cannot be determined solely by their effects on the populace. This does not indicate that the central government should disregard the dissenting opinion. For instance, the central government has already been criticised for its farm laws, and the key lesson was that stakeholders should be considered prior to making difficult decisions. As a result of this, the government had to reverse its decision as the farmers’ protested heavily. Similarly, the judiciary can learn from this verdict. Due to their limited scope, economic policy decisions should not fall under the purview of the judiciary. Such policies and their opponents must be dealt with democratically. In conclusion, demonetisation is not a topic that should be politicised right now. With the Supreme Court’s ruling, the issue of the government’s role has been brought to its logical conclusion. This does not imply that the people’s suffering after the decision never occurred. However, bringing up these memories after five years in an effort to gain political momentum will not help the opposition. In the past five years, numerous significant economic issues have surfaced. There are strong reasons to oppose the ruling regime on these issues, so the opposition must move on from the discussion of demonetisation. The author is a Columnist and Doctoral Research Scholar In Media & Politics. He tweets @sayantan_gh. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .