Before starting the article, I would like to say this essay is only for a competition and it does not highlight or criticize any individual or his ideas, neither does it promote any organization, nor is it meant to harm any organization. This is purely based on my viewpoints.
After the independence of India from the colonial rule, a constitution was adopted which made India a Democratic, Republic and a Sovereign nation. Since the last 69 years India has been considered as an ideal system of Democracy around the world and has been recognized by various nations, but during recent times can we say that India is still a Democratic nation? With the help of my essay, I would like to bring out evidence which have occurred recently which has led to people questioning the integrity of our Democracy.
Why one nation, One party rule when we have so many political parties in India?
India may be a democracy but that so is only in from a theoretical aspect and not from a practical aspect, similarly in Russia where there is a multi-party system however only United Russia has been in power since many years. Whenever member of a powerful opposition was seen rising, he was either caught in a criminal scandal, was killed or detained in regard to charges that never existed in the first place. Similar is the case in India, since BJP is in power one can see cases, such as seen in the elections to the mayor that were held in Chandigarh. The INC and AAP had formed an alliance with securing 20 out of the 35 majority votes but Anil Mash a member of BJP had declared 8 ballot papers invalid which would eventually lead to Manoj Sonkar, the BJP candidate winning the elections, but this incident was all caught on a camera so Mr. Mash has been prosecuted by the supreme court for malpractice. This incident was only brought to light because of the help of a camera but what about the places where there wasn’t a camera present.
A democratic nation is a nation where there is a long-drawn-out decision-making process with input from both the minority and the majority to maintain a balance. Recently due to the new Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office Act of 2023, gives the government a dominant role in selecting the Election Commissioner. The new law removes any power given to the Chief Justice of India and replaces it with power given to a cabinet minister of the Lok Sabha and the leader of opposition party. This gives a 2 out of 3 majority vote to appoint the new EC. This results in the ruling party to be in control on whom to elect and whom not to elect.
There is not only 1 insistence where the government is trying to take control of other parties, but the amendment of the GNCTD (The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi) act of 1991 states that the Authority will make recommendations to the Lieutenant Governor in regards to transfers and postings of officials and disciplinary matters. This provides a prominent power to the LG where he can act on his sole discretion, and during a dispute between the LG and Authority, the former’s decision will be final.
Control over Media
In a democracy the most important role is of the media, it is a neutral entity which neither supports any party nor promotes it.However it’s safe to say that during recent years we have seen a biased and a partial role of the media. Moreover, the media has not criticized the action of the ruling government even once and did not shed any light on the majority of the laws amended by the government which appear to be flawed. In earlier times channels like Door darshan and Ndtv used to have leaders of both opposition and ruling party who used to sit together and debate on the issues and laws, but is it possible today? One can only see the full-fledged support of media for the ruling party and criticism towards the opposition, often mocking them by using cartoons. The independence of media is important for democracy as it provides transparency, and it helps us in choosing the ideal political party but if the media is biased then how can we call our nation a Democratic one?
YOUTUBE: DHRUV RATHE (Credit-Dhruv Rathee on Youtube)
However, is India still a democratic nation?
Some of you would say no as we can still vote for the party that we would like to choose but however that is not the case as our country is moving towards one nation, one party rule. The rise of certain events over the following 2-3 years have led to these speculations. However, these events may not have taken place one after the other but have played a prominent role in Indian politics. These events are all interlinked with each other. The V Dem institution In the University Of Gothenburg published a study in which they classified India as an "Electoral Autocracy” and India, which was downgraded to the status of an “electoral autocracy” in 2018, has declined even further on multiple metrics to emerge as “one of the worst autocratizers”, according to the ‘Democracy Report 2024’ released by the Gothenburg-based V-Dem Institute that tracks democratic freedoms worldwide. India is among the countries leading the ‘third wave of autocratisation’, V Dem said, noting that 68% of the world’s population now lives under autocratic regimes. This year’s report, therefore, is titled ‘Autocratisation Turns Viral’
These evidence and facts are well researched and published on online platforms. If asked my viewpoint regarding this, it would be that since recent times the mere presence and integrity of our democracy has been challenged. Though India might be appearing to shift towards an autocratic form of governance, but this claim cannot be verified to be 100% sure. So, I would like to request you all to ask yourself,” Is Democracy still present in India”, while keeping in mind the evidence present above.