Addressing the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj saw the role of the Opposition as a watchdog of peoples' rights with the responsibility to keep a check on the government. Swaraj also said that BJP is a strong opposition and its future in the country is not bleak.

Urging the media to be more responsible while reporting parliamentary affairs, Swaraj clarified that the BJP as opposition walks out of the Parliament only on rational issues and not for personal gains.

Media should consider these issues before criticising walk outs, she said.

She said that if the government works for public good, BJP will support it, but the party will oppose it vehemently if the government goes against their interests.

CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury said that coalition politics marks the maturity of Indian democracy. Opposition has important role to play as it is crucial to democracy, he said.

Oppostion sets agenda for the government, he said.

Noting the history of opposition in the independent and democratic India, Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal said that voices of dissent have been crushed in the past rather than heard.

Badal called the present times as an era of coalition and regional politics. Power of regional parties has dramatically increased, he said. However, he also expressed his dissent that smaller states have lesser say on national front.