IS INDIAN DEMOCRACY ALIVE AND KICKING? Introduction

Authors Press, 2021

IIC Quarterly, 2021

I will, in this overview, look into the process of the emergence of democracy in India, how the democratic idea was spread by the Indian national movement, and how it was sought to be implemented by the independent Indian nation state. I will end by highlighting the current challenges to this process, which has reached alarming proportions today. At the outset one must set aside the oft-repeated notion that democracy was a gift of British colonialism in India. Colonialism by definition represents the very opposite of democracy. It is the denial of political, economic and cultural freedom to the colonised people. THE NATIONAL MOVEMENT AND DEMOCRACY Democracy in India was a product of it being a critical element in the imagination of the nation by the anti-imperialist national movement that emerged in India in the second half of the 19th century. The nation that was imagined by Indian nationalists was to be independent, democratic, secular, inclusive of all kinds of diversity and pro-poor-a vision that Rabindranath Tagore, Jawaharlal Nehru and others termed 'the idea of India'. As Mahatma Gandhi said, such an independent democratic nation or 'Swaraj … will not be a free gift of the British…. It will be a declaration of India' s full self-expression…. It is a treasure to be purchased with a nation' s best blood'. 1 At almost the same time as the early Indian nationalists had started the process of nation formation, or what they called the process of 'the Indian nation-in-the-making' with this vision or 'idea of India', British colonial rulers campaigned for the exact opposite.

isara solutions, 2022

Meaning and definition: Democracy in India is the largest in form and the vibrant in character, originated in Ancient Grece, conceptualised by Sheelyas a form of government in which each individual has share, as it was suitable to city-state. Later, Abraham Lincone's idea on "democracy is of the people, by the people and for the people" is about the state of governance exclusively with reference to America could have been correct. But, William Riker, refer to Brazil, Argentina and USA where more importance has given to interest of states but not to national government. According to him "federal state is formed to control the power of national government in democracy". Similarly, Albert Stephens advocated that "federal state is made to bind all the states in democracy". According to Bryce, "democracy really means nothing more or less than rule of the whole people, expressing their sovereign will by their votes'. Thus, democracy is defined as a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodical free election. But liberal democracy marked not only by free and fair election, rule of law, a separation of powers and protection of basic rights of individual.But FareedZakaria said "democracy is flourishing, constitutional liberalism is not 1. Thus MacIver observed "Democracy is not a way of governing, whether by majority or otherwise but primarily away of determining, who shall govern, and broadly to what ends". Therefore, all are agreed that the most common form of democracy is representative democracyin which citizen of state elect representatives to make political decisions, formulates laws, administrates programmes for public welfare. In such system, every individual has important rights to vote his/ her representative to all levels from Panchayats, Municipal Boards, State Assemblies and Parliament. Revolutionary Socialistic view on democracy is public ownership of principle means of production, It combins with centralised state planning affords the best hope for just, humane and egalitarian society.Whereas the left rejects revolutionary visions of ruptures with capitalism. They insist an activist state is essential counteract where negative effects generated by the dynamics of capitalist economics-poverty, unemployment,increasing inequality. The absences of such state interventions for capitalist market becomes a "Satanic Mill" in Karl Polanyi's metaphor that erodes the social foundations for its own existence 2 ,A positive democratic state has become noticeably weaker not only in their rhetorical force but practical political capacity to mobilise also.

International Journal of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences Studies, 2023

The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) won a clear majority in 2014 general election, and Narendra Modi became the prime minister of India. He brought a new chapter in Indian politics by introducing several new policies and reforms that drastically changed the country's democratic system. BJP's rise to power has prompted hopes for economic development and political reforms, however it also brought about worries of the possible erosion of secularism and the stifling of dissent. This article aims to examine the evolution of India's democratic terrain since the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014. The article highlights the major social, economic and political evolution that occurred in India after 2014. It also examines the impact of these changes on India's democratic institutions and indicates the ways to preserve a dynamic and inclusive democratic India for the foreseeable future.

India's Democracies, 2016

2007

India is one of the oldest civilizations and one of the largest countries of the world both in terms of territory and population. After going through several phases of wars and colonization by foreign invaders like the Mughals and the European powers for centuries, India was able to make its democracy only after independence in 1947 which was considered to be the largest democracy by electorate under the leadership of its nationalist movement The Indian National Congress. Since its creation in 1947 India has proved and sustained itself as one of the strongest and successful democratic state in the world. It has become a role model for many countries of the third world. Its a fact that even the developed countries of the world are much interested and surprised with the sustainability of the Indian democratic system. The essay is about the indian political system, its emergence, its infrastructure, the frame and strategies for managing the greatest democratic system. I have also mention the system of political parties their fall and rise and the emergence of new parties and the merging or renaming of certain political parties. I have also thrown light on the ups and downs of the voting percentage, their reasons behind and their maintenance of vote bank. i have made a closer look at five trends that have unfolded over the last six decades illustrates why the election will likely hinge on a confluence of local factors. The most striking trend in Indian electoral politics is the explosion in political competition in recent years. In the 1952 general election , the first held after India won Independence, 55 parties took part; in 2009, 370 parties entered the fray. The surge in political competition began in the 1980s -the number of parties contesting elections jumped from 38 in 1984 to 117 in 1989, a watershed year in Indian politics. It was only the second time since Independence that the Congress Party was ousted from power. The dramatic surge in 1989 is explained by the proliferation of regional parties, which formed in direct response to popular disenchantment with Congress rule and the lack of representation for lower and backward castes, minorities, and regional or sub regional interests. With the 1989 election there was end to the single party rule and brought into practice the new governments formed under multi party coalition. This further gave way to many regional parties whose leader found that they can bring about considerable influence in the government making with even a small number of seats in the parliament. However putting light on such incidents in the party mechanism of india i will throw light on the current status of the indian political system ,the ups and downs in the government formation by differnet political parties . however my focus will be on the elections held in the past two decades and the volatilities and the factors of volatilities in the different election faced by several political parties.

Asia Maior, 2020

The following article, focussed on the analysis of the ongoing crisis of Indian democracy in the year 2020, is articulated in two parts. The first, after a synthetic summing up of how the crisis started in 2019, is an overview of the main developments which characterized the struggle against and for democracy in the year under review. The crushing of the anti-CAA/NRC democratic movement, the persecution of minorities, the harassing of NGOs, the attacks on journalists and the continuing repression in Kashmir are summarised. The celebration of the transformation of India from a secular democracy into a Hindu Rashtra through the inauguration of the construction of the Ram mega temple in Ayodhya is remembered. This first part ends by discussing the unexpected rise of the Indian farmers’ anti-government movement in the concluding months of the year. The second part of the article is a case study of the repression of the anti-CAA/NRC movement. It is argued that it was pursued through fascist-like violence on the part of Hindutva thugs, abetted by the police. This culminated in the Delhi riots-turned-pogrom of February. In spite of all, the anti-CAA/NRC movement continued up to the explosion of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, which made the continuation of street manifestations and sit-ins impossible. The analysis continues through the examination of the veritable witch-hunt carried by the police, on the basis of fabricated evidence, against representative members of the anti-CAA/NRC movement and intellectuals known for their criticism of the Modi government. In the conclusion it is argued that the political set-up prevailing in India is not a full-fledged democracy any more. Rather, it is a hybrid system which, below an outwardly democratic appearance, badly conceals its highly authoritarian nature.