The charade of Democracy
Everything about this election season in India is predictable, built around the cult of Narendra Modi
At an election rally in India last week, Prime Minister Modi accused the Indian opposition of eating meat and hurting the sentiment of Hindus and appeasing a set of people in the country, comparing it to the strategy of Mughals. The invoking of Mughals and the meat-eating tendency, the appeasement of a 'certain' community was a dog-whistle for Muslims. At another election rally, he accused the main opposition party, the Congress, of insulting Lord Ram by refusing to attend the Ram temple inauguration in January; a temple that was built over a mosque demolished by Hindu nationalists.
India goes to vote this week, an election that will span across 42 days and the Model code of conduct for elections has been brought into effect. According to the Election commission of India, no political party or leader including the Prime Minister can invoke religion as a means of discrimination. Section 3 of the Model code of Conduct as listed on the wesbite of the Election Commission of India says "There shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes. Mosques, Churches, Temples or other places of worship shall not be used as forum for election propaganda." (https://www.eci.gov.in/mcc/)
In the Southern city of Hyderabad, the BJP's candidate for the parliamentary election passed by a mosque with a crowd of Hindu nationalists dressed in saffron for her election rally. She took an imaginary shot with an arrow towards the mosque. The crowds cheer and celebrate. (https://twitter.com/RanaAyyub/status/1781208125384909177?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet)
On the 19th of April, the first day of elections, the twitter handle of the ruling party put out a tweet with an image of the Ram temple. It said in Hindi 'If you are going to vote today, remember who built the Ram temple'.
The Election commission in India whose duty is to protect the sacrosanct nature of the Indian electoral process and is one of the pillars of the Indian Democracy has been the subject of great scrutiny much like every other institution in India. As India goes to vote in an election that is skewed heavily in favour of Prime Minister Modi, questions are being raised in the country about the neutrality of the institutions that are meant to ensure a level playing field. The institutions including the Election commission of India are not without their share of controversies.
In the year 2023, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner of the country would be made by the President of India on the basis of the advice given by a committee that would consist of the Chief Justice of India, the leader of the opposition and the Prime Minister of the country. In the months leading up to the General elections, the Modi government passed a bill in both houses of the parliament that excluded the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India from the committee.
It is peak election season in India. As one enters Mumbai, the financial capital, the roads leading up to the city from the international airport see giant cut outs of the Prime Minister greeting the country, life-size images of Narendra Modi stare from the billboards. In one image, he is dressed in a white Hindu holy cloth reminding the country that he gave them the promised Ram Temple, in another billboard the caption with Modi in saffron says 'Abrogation of section 370 in Kashmir' (It refers to removing the special status accorded to the people of Jammu and Kashmir while placing thousands of Kashmiris in jails and cutting all internet communications for months).
The elections in India in 2024 do not seem to be a duel between the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party and other opposition parties; it seems to be the celebration of a glorious career of a leader with no opponents this election season.
The massive hoardings across the country have just one life size image resembling a religious deity, a godman or a monarch bestow his blessings on the people, Narendra Modi. On Ram Navami, the festival that celebrates the birth of Lord Ram, just two days before India goes to vote on the 19th of April in the first phase of elections, the front page of all leading newspapers is an election advertisment with the image of Modi alongwith a list of his achievements. On the streets, Modi's images outsize that of Lord Ram even when they are placed together.
Running parallel to his provocative speeches in his election rallies, Modi gave an interview to Newsweek magazine, enumerating the virtues of a democracy, an interview decried by critics as a question-less press release. The interview was not just shared by the twitter handle of the Prime Minister but by every Indian embassy across the world. The Prime Minister who tries to charm the Western world with the mysticism of 'Indian Democracy' however is thin-skinned when it comes to any criticism of the country under his rule. A few weeks ago, the Modi government summoned the US deputy Chief of Mission after a White House spokesperson asked for a fair trial in the arrest of a key leader of the Indian opposition in the lead up to the elections.
The US state department had expressed its concern over the arrest of formidable opposition faces like Arvind Kejriwal. The Enforcement directorate arrested Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of the capital city of Delhi, one of the leading faces of the Indian opposition on charges of alleged corruption. In the same week, the Income tax department froze the assets of the Congress party and sent notices to other opposition parties for massive amounts of money. The Prime Minister who rode to power in 2014 on the plank of wiping out corruption is accused of using anti corruption agencies to browbeat formidable leaders in the opposition to join his alliance
An investigative report by the country's leading publication, Indian Express found out, that of the twenty-five top opposition leaders who faced a corruption probe by the Enforcement Directorate , twenty three got reprieve from the anti corruption agency once they joined hands with Modi's ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party. (https://indianexpress.com/article/express-exclusive/since-2014-25-opposition-leaders-facing-corruption-probe-crossed-over-to-bjp-23-of-them-got-reprieve-9247737/)
One would wonder, why would a country that threw out the Congress government in 2014 with a landslide victory for Narendra Modi with the promise of eradicating corruption not be outraged at the alleged brazen misuse of anti-corruption agencies.
In a country where the mainstream news media has been completely co-opted, dissenters and critics jailed and institutions hollowed out, the country is basking in the wave of an alternate truth where any criticism of Prime Minister Modi is conflated as an attempt to attack the sovereignty of India. Modi is India and India is Modi.
On March 17th, I walked into the Bharat Jodo rally, a mass outreach programme by Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi across the country. The rally culminated with a show of strength by Indian opposition leaders who came together to announce their opposition to Narendra Modi. Before the leaders could begin their speech, two of India's famous artists and film directors Vishal and Rekha Bhardwaj performed their chart breaking music on the power of love and the need for unity. An elderly couple who lived in the neighbourhood caught my eye, both upper caste, upper middle class Indians, the husband worked with a foreign embassy and did not wish to be identified. "These people who are singing songs of love and unity need to be asked why are democracies under attack in countries where Muslims are in a sizeable population. Thanks to Modi, our borders and our country is finally protected from infiltrators"
Voices from around the world are asking if this would be the last ever election for India. Will the election results that coincides with the centenary celebrations of the Nazi inspired Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Hindu nationalist organisation that is the ideological inspiration behind the ruling government lead to a change of the Indian constitution ?
Elections are likely to continue in India, 'the festival of Democracy' as the world has labeled it, needs to be flaunted to the world even if the pillars that strengthened the Indian democracy have been dismantled. As Modi looks to seal a third term in power, he would like to continue this projection to the western world, at the same time fulfilling the dream of his ideological mentors of transforming India into a Hindu state.