Why Rahul Gandhi is happy to be in Opposition

Speaking during the Motion of Thanks in Lok Sabha, a rejuvenated Rahul Gandhi took the attack to the government saying he was happy to be in the Opposition. The Leader of the Opposition (LoP), while repeatedly citing Lord Shiva during his speech attacked the government on several fronts including the Agniveer scheme, accused it of spreading hatred and even goaded the BJP's performance in Ayodhya calling it a message from Lord Rama.
After being denied the right to show a picture of Lord Shiva, Rahul Gandhi described the picture saying: “Shivji has a snake one inch from his neck, that's the spirit with which we fought when we were in the opposition.”
He added, reacting to a stray comment: "We are still in the opposition. I am happy and proud to be in the opposition. Because for us, there is more than power. There is truth. For you there is only power. That's the only place you want to be. For us there's truth. And this is a symbol of truth. When Shivji places the snake near his neck, he says he will not back down the from the truth. After that a new idea emerges. I cannot show Shivji's picture, all of you know it. Behind the left shoulder is a trishul. It's a symbol of non-violence. When we fought the BJP there was no violence.”
Attacking the BJP, Rahul Gandhi said Hinduism wasn’t “about spreading fear, hatred and falsehoods”. When PM Modi objected to Rahul Gandhi’s remarks, the Leader of the Opposition said that BJP, PM Modi “weren’t the entire Hindu society”. Reacting, Home Minister Amit Shah demanded Rahul Gandhi “apologise” for his remarks painting all Hindus as “violent”.
Rahul Gandhi also claimed his mic was being muted when he used the word "Ayodhya". Speaker Om Birla rejected the allegations and chided Gandhi for casting aspersions on the intentions of the Chair.
Turning the knife, Rahul said BJP had "lost in Ayodhya" despite the Ram Mandir inauguration and said that the "government had demolished the houses and shops of local people in Ayodhya". He further claimed that people of Ayodhya weren't invited to the inauguration ceremony.
While concluding his speech, Gandhi said: "When I became LoP, I realised something I had never realised before. And it was along the lines of the principles of Shiva. It's along the same lines. The idea was after becoming LoP all my personal dreams, my personal aspirations, my personal fears have to be put side. I am now two people. I am not one person. I am a Constitutional person and it's my job to represent all these parties equally. In fact, I don't just represent the Congress party, I represent the full Opposition."
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Earlier, the members of the opposition parties staged a protest on the Parliament premises on Monday against the central government's "misuse" of central agencies including the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Opposition MPs including Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress' Shashi Tharoor, KC Venugopal, Manish Tewari, K Suresh, Varsha Gaikwad, Benny Behnan, Anto Antony, Kerala Congress (M)'s Jose K Mani, Aam Aadmi Party's Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha, TMC MP Sagarika Ghosh, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi and CPI(M)'s John Brittas among others participated in the protest.
The leaders were seen carrying placards and posters that read "Respect Opposition, Stop Intimidation!", "Stop misusing agencies to silence opposition," End the rein of fear, stop ED, IT, CBI misuse, "Bhaajpa mei jaao bhrashtachar ka licence pao..."
The opposition parties have been targeting the central government alleging misuse of the central agencies "to silence" the opposition. The arrests of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Ministers, former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, and TMC Ministers by ED and CBI in various cases invited criticism from many sectors.
With inputs from agencies