It is not easy being an Opposition leader in India these days. It’s like living with one’s head in the lion’s mouth. If Opposition leaders strongly defend their political turf, they find the Enforcement Directorate at their doorstep, they’re arrested and forced to resign like former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren. Or face relentless ED summons, like Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal does. If an opposition party is dominant in a state, like the Trinamool Congress in Bengal, it could be denied access to central funds. If the Opposition rules through a rickety coalition, it is vulnerable to ‘Operation Lotus’ and is in perpetual danger of being destabilised, like in Bihar and Maharashtra, or lose an election even when they have a majority, like in the Chandigarh mayoral poll.
