The opposition seems to have drifted into years of irrelevance by reducing its role to noisy theatrics in Parliament. That drift has sidelined it from the lives of citizens who struggle with daily realities. It is time the opposition realizes that relevance will only return when it steps outside the legislature and acts where people actually live and suffer. Only by engaging with everyday concerns ~ safe crossings, clean cities and air, jobs with dignity, schools where daughters feel secure, and roads that serve rather than punish ~ can it prove that it matters. Citizens want an administration that serves rather than dictates. These are not luxuries but basic expectations.

Yet people have stopped complaining, not because problems have disappeared, but because they have lost faith that anyone will listen. That silence is itself a warning: democracy weakens when citizens resign themselves to chaos. The opposition can reclaim that faith by consistently questioning failures, demanding accountability for the nightmares people endure, and demonstrating through action that it is a performer, not just a critic. Every breath in our cities today is a slow poison. As of February 2026, air quality in major metros remains “unhealthy,” with average PM2.5 concentrations nearly eleven times higher than the WHO guideline.

Cities like Jhargram and Kharagpur have recorded AQI levels above 400, classified as “hazardous,” while Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata hover around 160-170, choking millions of residents. This is not inconvenience ~ it is mass asphyxiation in slow motion. At the same time, unemployment has climbed to 5 per cent in January 2026, with urban joblessness at 7 per cent and female unemployment in cities nearing 10 per cent. Behind the headline growth figures lies a harsher reality: corporate investment has stagnated for over a decade, IT hiring has slowed under AI disruption, and millions are trapped in unstable gig work. We risk becoming a nation of delivery boys and gig workers while China builds factories at scale. China today produces nearly 30 per cent of the world’s manufactured goods, while we barely cross 3 per cent.

This crisis is compounded by looming tariff wars and global trade realignments. Without a robust industrial base, tariff shocks can cripple exports and inflate domestic costs. The only sustainable response is to build manufacturing capacity that rivals global competitors, and this requires urgent investment in affordable, skill-oriented education ~ training workers not just for low end assembly but for high value manufacturing, technology integration, and innovation. It is here........

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