What is ‘Shadow Cabinet’?

By SUDESHNA PAUL

India is the largest democracy in the world and the second-largest country by population. The citizens of India elect a representative of their choice who rules at the state or central level. Although we get to voice our choices, the politicians rarely keep the promises made by them prior to the elections. After winning the elections, they feel that they are not answerable to the people who elected them. Even during the elections, EVMs are sabotaged and polling booths are taken over by goons financed by political parties, so that the common people cannot vote.

India's current situation needs a complete overhaul as corruption has crept into every sphere. Everyone interprets the rules and laws according to their own benefit and follow only those that would be beneficial for them. A new form of governance is required which will be transparent and accountable to the people who elected it. A radical change is required and the old corrupt and broken system needs to be done away with in order to raise India's position in the international sphere.

Shadow Cabinet India is a political platform, which helps to make the public aware of the policies of the government and the work done by them, through a digital medium. This would be applicable to all kinds of policies, rules, laws and reforms. Anna Ji has been the inspiration behind this project that has been started by Dr. Munish Raizada and his team, from the 1^st of January 2022.

History of Shadow Cabinet India

Previously, civil society activists and/or the then opposition parties had tried to establish shadow governments. In Kerala, a civil society circle tried to form a shadow government. In   Maharashtra a Shiva Sena – BJP alliance and in Gujarat Congress had tried to form shadow governments. Shiv Sena and BJP, in 2005, were the opposition parties who formed a shadow cabinet against the Congress government. The then Chief Minister of Maharashtra was Vilasrao Deshmukh.

In 2014, in Madhya Pradesh, the opposition party Congress formed a shadow cabinet against the Shivraj Chouhan-led government. An NGO formed a shadow cabinet in Goa in 2015. Members of civil society in Kerala in 2018 formed a shadow cabinet and tried to examine the policies of the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the Left Democratic Front government. None of these had been able to do anything that could bring about a change in the long run. Currently, it has been heard that the Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party is thinking about forming a shadow cabinet in order to keep a check on the Arvind Kejriwal government.

Agenda of Shadow Cabinet India

1. Political Parties must come under RTI (Right to Information)

Political parties should come under the Right to Information act. This would help the common people to know what exactly is going on within the party. The citizens elect their political representatives and have the right to know about the people that they have chosen or will choose. A lot of corrupt ways and means are adopted to win elections, and even during other times political goons torture people for money. This needs to be stopped and political leaders need to be answerable to the common man. The donations that a political party gets needs to be made transparent. The citizens should get to know how much money the parties are receiving, from whom they are receiving it and where they are spending it.

There should be a complete overhaul of the system that is currently running in our country. The people that are selected or elected to represent the citizens should be responsible and answerable for whatever they do.

आजादी का स्वर्णिम महोत्सव : Time to get 2nd Azaadi to achieve Upgraded Democracy.

Shadow Cabinet website: https://www.shadowcabinet.org/

Twitter Link: https://twitter.com/ShadowCabinetIN
Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/ShadowCabinet.org/?ref=pa…
Email Id: mail@shadowcabinet.org
Phone no: +91 83681- 29778

(Keywords: shadow cabinet, government, India, Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, Kejriwal, politics, Shiv Sena, democracy, election, system, overhaul, representatives, corrupt.)