In every democracy, the government and the opposition stand in a deliberate balance, each accountable to the same constitutional order. One exercises authority and the other vigilance. Yet, both ultimately serve the same sovereign, the Republic of India. When that equilibrium weakens, when opposition begins to resemble agitation rather than responsibility, public debate loses discipline and politics descends into a spectacle.
The office of the leader of the opposition was never conceived as a platform for perpetual outrage. It exists as a constitutional counterweight, recognised in statute but sustained by convention, credibility and conduct. I had the privilege of watching this office discharged with seriousness and grace. When my mother, Sushma Swaraj, served as the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha and Shri Arun Jaitley held that responsibility in the Rajya Sabha, disagreement with the government was sharp yet never reckless. They prepared with meticulous care, verified facts before levelling allegations and treated Parliament as a forum for disciplined argument rather than political theatre. They understood that the authority to challenge a government is earned only when one demonstrates respect for the institutions that make that challenge possible.
The contrast today is difficult to ignore. The present leader of the opposition has yet to exhibit the credibility, dignity and intellectual rigour that the office demands. Public interventions have too often appeared impulsive rather than researched, declaratory rather than substantiated. When rhetoric consistently outpaces evidence and contested material is elevated into parliamentary controversy, the authority of the office itself begins to erode.
In 2025, during Operation Sindoor, when India mounted a calibrated response to cross border terrorism, the nation required steadiness, not sensationalism. At a time when misinformation was spreading rapidly and hostile propaganda networks were actively manufacturing narratives, the repeated public fixation on disputed claims of aircraft losses shifted attention away from the strategic objectives of the operation to the realm of speculative arithmetic. In matters of national security, emphasis carries the weight of the tricolour itself. It shapes the confidence of our soldiers, the faith of our citizens and the standing of Bharat in the community of nations. Those entrusted with constitutional office must ensure that their words fortify the nation, not fracture its resolve.
The events of the recent budget session exposed a troubling disregard for parliamentary discipline. The Lok Sabha was disrupted over reliance on an unpublished memoir attributed to a former Army chief, material that had neither been formally released nor authenticated. Border policy deserves rigorous and informed scrutiny, but Parliament cannot be compelled to debate unauthorised and unverified text as though it were settled fact. Valuable parliamentary time was lost, and serious strategic discussion was displaced by preventable controversy.
Equally concerning is the repeated portrayal of India’s democratic institutions as structurally compromised, including on international platforms. Criticism of policy is legitimate and often necessary, but broad indictments of institutional integrity carry consequences that travel far beyond domestic contestation. When the leader of the opposition speaks abroad, he does so not as a private partisan but as a constitutional office bearer of the very system he criticises. Such statements influence diplomatic perception, shape global narratives and, if made without proportion, risk undermining confidence in the republic itself.
Experience in public life is not measured only in years. It is measured by judgment, restraint and proportion. The office of the leader of the opposition demands the ability to criticise without corroding, to challenge without destabilising and to disagree without diminishing the republic itself.
India deserves a vigilant opposition. But vigilance without wisdom becomes noise, and noise, however persistent, is not leadership.
Bansuri Swaraj is the Lok Sabha member from New Delhi.