Mumbai: In 1999-2005, the then Shiv Sena’s Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Narayan Rane had for the first time introduced the concept of “Shadow Cabinet” which was relatively new. However, the concept had a premature death as it was grossly misunderstood and misinterpreted. The Raj Thackeray led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) now wants to revive that dead concept once again, outside of the state legislature as was done in April 2018 in Kerala.
It may be recalled that during his term as the leader of opposition in legislative assembly, Narayan Rane with much fanfare had sought to introduce the concept of Shadow Cabinet in the lower house in Maharashtra during the tenure of then Chief Minister, late Vilasrao Deshmukh.
The then State Legislature Secretary, late Ramesh Kambli was so elated at the prospect of the concept that a special function was held at the Vidhan Bhavan to apprise the opposition members of what the concept meant and what was expected of them in this new role.
Instead what happened thereafter on the floor of the state legislature, must have made Rane and Kambli cringe in horror and disbelief. The Shiv Sena members who were chosen to speak on wider policy matters on subjects like Urban Development or Home Affairs, chose to speak more about the problems in their own respective assembly constituencies rather than on the government policies.
This led to protestations from other opposition members who felt they were being denied chance to raise issues from their constituencies. The concept was finally abandoned as soon as it was introduced.
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Speaking to newspersons, MNS general secretary, Sandeep Deshpande argued that the MNS has already been following the concept in the Shiv Sena ruled BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Besides keeping a watch on the government, he said, the MNS will keep a close watch on the Sena if it indulges in any corruption. Hence, critics argue that it is the flawed understanding of the British concept that has led to its failure in India.
Elsewhere, in India, the concept of Shadow Cabinet was sought to be introduced by the Congress in 2014 in Madhya Pradesh against the then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan.
In Kerala though, in April 2018, civil society members, voluntary organisations set up a shadow cabinet to keep a watch on the decisions taken by Left led LDF government of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. However, the shadow cabinet did not include the Congress led UDF opposition.
As per the practice of “Shadow Cabinet” as it exists in the parliament of the United Kingdom or British parliament, it is defined as “the team of senior spokespeople chosen by the Leader of the Opposition to mirror the Cabinet in Government. Each member of the shadow cabinet is appointed to lead on a specific policy area for their party and to question and challenge their counterpart in the Cabinet. In this way the Official Opposition seeks to present itself as an alternative government-in-waiting”.
In the British parliamentary system it is the Cabinet that develops government policies and some members head government departments. The Shadow Cabinet consists of members from the main opposition party in the House of Commons and Lords, currently the Labour party. Its role is to examine the work of each government department and develop policies in their specific areas.
After a General Election, the largest non-government party in the House of Commons becomes the Official Opposition. The Leader of the Opposition takes the lead role in questioning the Prime Minister when they come to Parliament. The Leader of the Opposition chooses a team – known as the Shadow Cabinet – who take the lead in questioning other Government ministers when they come to Parliament.
As per the British parliamentary practices, it is the responsibility of the shadow cabinet to scrutinize the policies and actions of the government, as well as to offer alternative program. The Shadow Cabinet in UK parliament makes for most of the Frontbenchers in the opposition. A member of the Shadow Cabinet is called as the Shadow Minister.
The Shadow Cabinet comprises of Shadow Minister’s who are tasked to shadow important cabinet portfolio’s like Home Affairs, Finance, External Affairs, Agriculture, Railways and others. The Shadow Ministers are not just expected to monitor the developments in their respective portfolio’s, they are also expected to counter question the minister as and when required. The meetings of the Shadow Cabinet are informal and its decisions are not binding.
The British concept of Shadow Cabinet has been adopted in varying degrees in countries like Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand and South Africa. Although Australia, a Common Wealth group country, the introduction of the variant of the concept has met with serious criticism.
