Putin’s Dinner Snub to Rahul Fuels ‘No Opposition’ Debate

Signals emerging from the political arena suggest that the basic niceties of democracy are losing relevance—raising concerns of rising turbulence within India’s democratic ecosystem.

By MANISH ANAND

New Delhi, December 6, 2025 — Snub to leaders of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha — Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjuna Kharge — by the government by not inviting them to dinner for visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin has lit a firestorm over the Modi dispensation’s relations with the Opposition.

The Modi followers offer arguments suggesting that “Rahul and Kharge didn’t deserve to be invited” to the state banquet in honour of Russian President at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. They had not attended the inauguration of new parliament. They also had skipped the inauguration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

“There has been speculation whether the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha have been invited for tonight’s official dinner in honour of President Putin,” wrote Jairam Ramesh, Congress’ communication department chief, on X.

But by inviting Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, the Modi government has left none in doubt that it wants to set norms of the Opposition behaviour. Tharoor had led one of the teams of the MPs to South America to counter Pakistan narrative in the aftermath of the Operation Sindoor.

The Modi government per informed sources continue to keep Tharoor in good humour to further embarrass the Congress leadership. Modi followers also expect that Rahul and Kharge should be “respectful to the Prime Minister.”

Rahul has been on a warpath with the Modi government, hurling diatribe such as “vote chori”, “chaukidar chor hai”, and many more. He has also accused the Prime Minister of promoting corporate interests of “friends.”

In the first two terms of Modi as Prime Minister, the BJP fancied the idea of an India without an Opposition. The Congress had failed to get the status of the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha after the 2014 and the 2019 general elections. But 2024 Lok Sabha elections brought a reality check for the BJP that the Opposition isn’t yet dead.

In parliamentary democracy, the ruling dispensation nowhere in the world sets behavioural norms for the Opposition. By not showing space to the Opposition at events where they deserve slots, the Modi government risks pushing democracy quotient down.

But cues on offer suggest that niceties of democracy have lost flavours. That may suggest political turbulence in Indian democratic ecosystem.

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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