Democracy In India

India is the world's most populous democracy. Elections in the country started with the 1951–52 Indian general election. India was among the first post-colonial nations to adopt universal adult franchise, granting all adult citizens equal voting rights.

In recent years, under the premiership of Narendra Modi, India has experienced significant democratic backsliding. The Economist Democracy Index classifies India as a flawed democracy. The Freedom House classifies India as ''partly free''.

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History

Pre-modern history

Early Shakyas, Koliyas, Mallakas, and Licchavis are recorded as having assemblies that were accessible to affluent men of certain social classes. Other s and s had councils of unelected nobles; these bodies did not conform to modern standards of democracy and functioned more similarly to elite oligarchic councils. The Greek historian Diodorus, writing approximately two centuries after the time of Alexander the Great, refers to democratic states in India. However, there is a lack of evidence for electoral processes, and the term "democracy" in the 3rd century BCE may have referred more broadly to autonomous polities rather than representative governance. In the 10th century CE, inscriptions at the Vaikunda Perumal Temple suggest the election of local representatives to village councils during the Chola Empire.

Independence from colonial rule

Following nearly two centuries of British colonial rule—initially under the East India Company and later under direct governance by the British Crown—India gained independence in 1947 after a sustained nationalist anti-colonial movement. This movement was predominantly led by the Indian National Congress (INC; also known simply as the "Congress") and prominent figures such as Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. However, the movement was also shaped by a diverse range of ideological influences, including communism, ''Dalit'' leaders, and to a lesser extent, Hindutva, a far-right hindu nationalist ideology, though the latter's participation is debated. Prominent figures associated with these currents included B. R. Ambedkar, a leading advocate for the abolition of the caste system, and Subhas Chandra Bose, a militant nationalist leader, allied with the Axis Powers in World War II. The independence process was marred by a surge of religious and communal divisions, culminating in a bloody partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. This division created two separate nations: Pakistan with a Muslim majority, and India with a Hindu majority. The partition was characterised by widespread violence, mass displacement, and one of the largest refugee crises in history. India formally became a sovereign, democratic republic in 1950 with the adoption of the world's longest written constitution. The constitution was drafted by a Constituent Assembly, chaired by Ambedkar. The country held its first general election between late 1951 and early 1952, implementing universal adult franchise, and drawing heavy inspiration from the Westminster parliamentary system. The Congress secured a decisive electoral victory and Nehru was elected as the first prime minister of the country. This established India as the world's largest liberal democracy.

Nehruvian era

After independence, the Congress emerged as India's dominant political party. The reorganization of Indian states in 1956 along linguistic lines—transforming the colonial-era presidencies and provinces and fully integrating over 500 princely states—both responded to and further fueled the rise of notable regional movements. Congress secured a decisive victory in the 1957 general election. Notably, 1957 also witnessed a landmark development in the state of Kerala, where the Communist Party of India (CPI), under the leadership of E. M. S. Namboodiripad, formed the government—marking one of the first democratically elected communist governments in the world. The Congress maintained its political dominance by winning the 1962 general election in another landslide. Nehru remains the longest-serving holder of the office of the prime minister, having led the country for sixteen years. Nehru's premiership embraced republicanism, secularism, social democracy, and a policy of non-alignment during the Cold War. The caste system persisted, despite the constitutional abolition of caste-based discrimination. Meanwhile, some criticised the Congress for developing into an increasingly clientelist organisation. Socialist government regulations expanded significantly in what became known as the Licence Raj. However, these regulations often favoured established industrialists and large corporations, while disadvantaging small businesses, thereby contributing to the consolidation of capitalism. Nehru's leadership is considered to have failed in satisfying the urban and rural poor, the unemployed, and the Hindu nationalists and fundamentalists. Nehru died in 1964 and was succeeded as prime minister by Lal Bahadur Shastri. Shastri's untimely death just two years later, in 1966, led to his succession by Nehru's daughter, Indira Gandhi, India's first and only female prime minister. Nehru is often regarded as the architect of modern India.

Indira Gandhi and the Emergency

In response to a decline in support for Congress in the 1967 general election, Indira Gandhi embraced an increasingly left-wing populist platform. This led to opposition from the party’s right-wing, ultimately causing Congress to split in 1969 into the conservative and anti-socialist Congress (O), and the Gandhi-led socialist Congress (R). Gandhi's Congress (R) won a landslide victory in the 1971 general election. She is credited to have centralised power, and her political base has been described as a cult of personality. Though many praised her for her state socialism and protectionism, others criticised her alleged Machiavellianism and perceived insincerity regarding her socialist stance.

Meanwhile, in 1967, an armed peasant revolt erupted in the village of Naxalbari in the state of West Bengal, led by tribals and radical Maoist-inspired communists. This event, known as the Naxalbari uprising, marked the inception of the Naxalite–Maoist insurgency—a protracted conflict that has persisted for decades.

Rising economic turmoil led to an increase in civil unrest. Gandhi's increasing control over the judiciary, alongside undermining and bypassing of court rulings, sparked multiple constitutional crises. In 1974, a wave of student-led protests in the state of Bihar, initially sparked by inflation, unemployment, and corruption, rapidly escalated into a broader movement of mass resistance, demanding systemic transformation and directly challenging Gandhi's authority. Known as the Bihar Movement, it was led by socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan, who called for a "total revolution". On 12 June 1975, the Allahabad High Court found Gandhi guilty of electoral malpractice in the Raj Narain verdict. In the face of massive political opposition, disorder, and dissent across the country, Gandhi enacted a state of emergency. The Emergency began on 25 June 1975 and saw unprecedented nationwide censorship, mass arrests of dissenters and political opponents, widespread forced sterilisation, the suspension of the constitution, the nullification of fundamental rights, and a dictatorial centralisation of power. In 1977, Gandhi called for fresh elections, which resulted in a historic landslide victory for the Janata Party, a broad anti-Congress coalition. Janata Party leader Morarji Desai subsequently became the country's first non-Congress prime minister.

Post-Emergency era

The Desai Premiership ended the state of emergency and amended the constitution to make it more difficult for the government to declare emergencies. Desai's economic policies were met with little success. Significant ideological and political divisions eroded the Janata government. In 1979, Desai resigned and Charan Singh was appointed prime minister. Singh himself resigned just months later. In the 1980 election, Congress resurged, facilitating Indira Gandhi's return to power. Gandhi was assassination in 1984 by her Sikh bodyguards in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star, a deeply controversial military action in the Golden Temple, a sacred site in Sikhism, in an attempt to crack down on Sikh separatists. Her followers reacted by conducting a series of nationwide anti-Sikh pogroms, leading to the deaths of thousands. Indira Gandhi's son, Rajiv Gandhi, succeeded her as prime minister, with the Nehru–Gandhi family evolving into a political dynasty. The Congress government faced criticism for its handling of the anti-Sikh violence. Many accused the party of complicity, failing to bring the majority of perpetrators to justice, and allegedly providing state support or engaging in cover-ups. The events of 1984 contributed to the intensification of the Punjab insurgency, a Sikh separatist movement that escalated into a decade-long armed conflict in Punjab, the state with the largest Sikh population.

Rise of coalition politics, Hindu nationalism, and economic liberalisation

Rajiv Gandhi won a landslide victory in the 1984 election. At the age of 40, he became India's youngest prime minister. His tenure saw a shift towards economic deregulation. The Congress was defeated in 1989, and V. P. Singh of the Janata Dal coalition assumed office. His implementation of the Mandal Commission report—expanding reservations for lower caste Hindus—sparked significant social and political unrest. The 1990s also marked the ascent of Hindu nationalism in Indian politics, with the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Following Singh's ousting through a motion of no confidence, Chandra Shekhar briefly served as prime minister before resigning in 1991. With the 1991 election, the Congress returned to power under P. V. Narasimha Rao, whose government initiated sweeping economic liberalisation amidst a severe balance of payments crisis. The Congress lost the 1996 election. Atal Bihari Vajpayee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), closely affiliated with the right-wing Hindutva paramilitary organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), briefly became prime minister but his government fell within days. Two successive United Front coalition governments under H. D. Deve Gowda and Inder Kumar Gujral followed, both short-lived due to political instability. Vajpayee returned to power in 1998, and after another brief collapse, led the BJP-organised National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition to victory in the 1999 election. He became the first non-Congress prime minister to complete a full term. His government conducted successful nuclear weapons tests in 1998, continued economic liberalisation, and improved diplomatic relations with the United States. Dependent on coalition support and led by the moderate Vajpayee, the BJP was unable to advance key ideological goals, which sowed dissent among hardliners within the party. In 2002, a series of widespread anti-Muslim pogroms across Gujarat, led to the deaths of over a thousand people. The state government, led by chief minister Narendra Modi, is considered complicit in the riots, and he has faced serious accusations of state-sponsored terrorism.

UPA coalition governance

The 2004 general election resulted in the Congress returning to power, leading the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), a coalition of centrist and centre-left parties. Following the election, Manmohan Singh assumed office as the first Sikh and non-Hindu prime minister. Singh continued the process of economic liberalisation and is widely credited with contributing to a period of sustained economic growth in India. His administration’s handling of the Great Recession enabled the country to navigate the economic downturn more effectively than many other nations. He sought reconciliation with Pakistan and deepened ties with the United States. Singh secured a second term following the UPA's victory in the 2009 general election. His government became increasingly associated with corruption, as it was implicated in several high-profile scandals. The constraints of coalition politics contributed to what was widely perceived by the public as policy paralysis, although some contended that this perception was exaggerated or manufactured. Despite robust economic growth, increases in economic inequality and unemployment also took place. His later administration witnessed public disillusionment and a decline in popular support. Meanwhile, Hindu nationalism continued rising in the country, with many attributing the perceived failures of Singh's administration as a significant contributing factor. The clearance of Narendra Modi for the 2002 Gujarat riots, by a special panel of India's Supreme Court in 2012, led to anger and disbelief among the country's Muslim communities. In the 2014 general election, the BJP, led by Modi, adopted a right-wing populist platform. The party achieved a historic landslide victory, marking the first occasion since 1984 that a single party secured an outright majority in the parliament. The election was seen as the end of the dominance of the Congress in India's political landscape.

Modi era

Upon his inauguration, Narendra Modi became the first prime minister of India to be born after the country’s independence. His first term primarily focused on reducing bureaucratic red tape, implementing extensive economic liberalisation, and overhauling the economic system. These initiatives were accompanied by an expansion of certain government handouts, even as several welfare programmes and government spending were scaled back. These policies continued into his successive terms. In the 2019 general election, he secured another landslide victory.

Modi's second term witnessed a pronounced ideological shift towards Hindutva. He has been widely credited with engineering a shift in India to right-wing politics, contributing to the state-backed mainstreaming of Hindutva, previously considered to be on the political fringe. High levels of economic growth and development have coincided with an intensification of economic inequality, reaching levels surpassing those observed during the colonial era. This has been described by many scholars and academics as "Billionaire Raj" or India's Gilded Age, and is generally considered to be a crystallisation of trends that had emerged in the 1990s. The administration has faced criticism for allegedly fostering crony capitalism. Modi's government was criticised for mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the pandemic contributed to a broader cost-of-living crisis that persisted beyond its conclusion.

Throughout his tenure, many observers have noted a significant and sustained decline in democratic norms in India. The Modi government has employed state power to suppress dissent across various sectors, including the arts, academia, journalism, and the political opposition, while also leading to an increasingly right-wing and pro-government mainstream media. His political base has been compared to a cult of personality. In the 2024 general election, the BJP lost its parliamentary majority and now leads an NDA coalition government. The result coincided with a global anti-incumbency wave and a resurgence of the opposition, led by the Congress party—though gains were largely driven by regional parties rather than a full revival of the Congress.

Structure

Constitution

The constitution of India is the supreme legal document of the country and the longest written national constitution in the world. It declares India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular, and democratic republic. It establishes the framework that defines the fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions. It also sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens. The day of adoption of the constitution is celebrated every year on 26 January as Republic Day.

Legislature

Central/Union legislature

The parliament of India is the country's supreme legislative body and follows a bicameral structure comprising the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the People). The president of India, who serves as the ceremonial head of state, is also a formal component of the legislature. The president is elected to a five-year term by an electoral college comprising the elected members of both houses of parliament, as well as elected members of state legislatures. Parliament House in New Delhi is the seat of India's parliament, housing both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

=Lok Sabha

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The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of the parliament. Its members are directly elected by Indian citizens through universal adult franchise, representing parliamentary constituencies across the country under a first-past-the-post electoral system. General elections are held once every five years, although early elections may be called if the house is dissolved by the president on the advice of the prime minister and the council of ministers. During a state of emergency, the term of the Lok Sabha may be extended beyond five years. The Lok Sabha is the principal centre of legislative authority in India, where major national laws are introduced, debated, and passed; the executive branch is primarily responsible and accountable to this house. The prime minister typically serves as the leader of the house in Lok Sabha, and the ruling party or coalition largely drives the legislative agenda.

A motion of no confidence is a formal proposal in the Lok Sabha asserting that the ruling government no longer has the support of the majority of the house; if passed, it obliges the entire government to resign.

The current Lok Sabha, the eighteenth since independence, comprises 543 seats, all filled by members of parliament elected in the 2024 Indian general election.

=Rajya Sabha

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The Rajya Sabha, also known as the Council of States, is the upper house of the parliament. It currently has 245 seats. Its members are elected by the members of the state legislative assemblies through a system of proportional representation, by means of a single transferable vote. Members serve staggered six-year terms, with one-third of the house being elected every two years. In addition, twelve members are nominated directly by the president, in recognition of their distinguished contributions to fields such as the arts and the sciences.

While the Rajya Sabha has the constitutional authority to introduce, debate, and pass most categories of national legislation—with the sole exception of money bills, which fall exclusively within the domain of the Lok Sabha—it primarily functions as a revisory chamber and rarely obstructs significant legislation approved by the lower house. Nevertheless, on occasion, it has exercised its powers to delay or seek amendments to major legislative proposals passed by the Lok Sabha.

State legislature

The state legislature of India consists of the state legislative assemblies and the state legislative councils. While the majority of Indian states and union territories function under a unicameral legislature, six states maintain a bicameral system, with the state legislative councils serving as the upper house. Notably, money bills fall exclusively within the jurisdiction of the state legislative assemblies. In the event of a disagreement between the two houses of the state legislature, the decision of the state legislative assembly prevails.

=State legislative assembly

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The state legislative assembly, also known as the Vidhan Sabha or the Saasana Sabha, is the legislative body that functions as the unicameral legislature in twenty-two states and all union territories of India. In six states, it serves as the lower house of a bicameral legislature. Members of the legislative assemby are directly elected by the electorate of individual constituencies through general elections held every five years, unless dissolved sooner by the governor on the advice of the chief minister. State legislative assemblies are the locus of legislative authority in their specific states or union territories. Analogous to the Lok Sabha at the national level, a motion of no confidence may be introduced and passed within a state legislative assembly; if successful, the incumbent state government is obliged to resign.

=State legislative council

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The state legislative council, also known as the Vidhan Parishad or the Saasana Mandali, functions as the upper house in the bicameral legislature of select Indian states. A state legislative assembly may pass a resolution by a special majority to establish or dissolve the council. Members of a state legislative council serve staggered terms of six years, with one-third of the members retiring every two years. The composition of the council reflects a blend of indirect election and nomination, designed to represent various interest groups and areas of expertise. Although the state legislative council performs a reviewing and advisory role, it holds limited legislative power. As of now, six Indian states possess such councils: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh.

Reservation

Reservation is a form of affirmative action that was established during the British Raj. It reserves seats for " socially and economically backward citizens" in higher education admissions, employment, political bodies, etc. Part XVI of the Constitution deals with reservation in the legislature. In 2023, Parliament passed the One Hundred and Sixth Amendment of the Constitution of India, which reserves 33% of legislative seats for women.

Democratic backsliding

Numerous media outlets and academic scholars have extensively documented the democratic backsliding seen in India under the premiership of Narendra Modi.

According to V-Dem Institute, laws on sedition, defamation, and counterterrorism have been used to silence critics and dissenting voices. In 2021, V-Dem downgraded India from 'flawed democracy' to 'electoral autocracy'. In a 2023 report, the institute characterised India as "one of the worst autocratisers in the last 10 years." In 2024, India was ranked as the 19th most electorally democratic country in Asia, amid a process of democratic backsliding, according to the V-Dem Democracy indices.

Aside from V-Dem, various independent sources have identified the use of sedition, defamation, and counterterrorism laws, as well as harassment and raids by tax officers, against critics of the Modi government. Organisations such as the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation have been used to attack the opposition. The Modi administration has delayed, suppressed, and withheld official government data, such as those related to unemployment, mob lynchings, and farmer suicides, among others. Internet censorship has worsened, with a significant rise in the banning and blocking of websites, apps, and accounts on social media, alongside the suppression of online information, which are considered to be critical of the government. Furthermore, throughout Modi's tenure as prime minister, the Indian media landscape has shifted markedly towards a right-wing and pro-government orientation. This alignment has sometimes been pejoratively referred to as 'Godi media', a term used to criticise perceived media subservience to the ruling establishment.

In 2023, India was ranked 161 out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders. The Democracy Index, published by the Economist Group, classifies India as a 'flawed democracy'. The Freedom House classifies India as 'partly free'.

Weakening of Institutions

In "Global Challenges to Democracy," Milan Vaishnav argues that India's "referee institutions," such as the judiciary, investigative agencies, the Election Commission of India, the Central Information Commission, Lokpal, and others, have been weakened through coercion and patronage. He identifies three strategies that contribute to this weakening of institutions:

# Deference: Institutions self-censor or avoid confrontation.
# Interference: There is direct meddling in appointments, procedures, or actions.
# Neglect: Institutions are deprived of capacity or relevance.

Vaishnav also outlines several reasons why these institutions abdicate their responsibilities. The first is the alleged ideological alignment with the ruling party. The second is career incentives and post-retirement appointments, often referred to as the "sinecure state." The third reason is fear of retaliation, and lastly, public opinion pressures discourage opposition to a popular government.

See also

* Elections in India
* Politics of India
* Democratic backsliding

Notes

References

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