Weakening democracy

 Democracy provides the touchstone by which political actions and processes are judged as beneficial or otherwise. Democracy emerged in India out of a confrontation with a power imposed from outside rather than an engagement with the contradictions inherent in Indian society. Those contradictions remained deeply embedded in the Indian social order even as the country opted for a democratic political order on the attainment of independence. They are giving Indian democracy a very different character from democracy in the West which grew and advanced by confronting a succession of internal social contradictions. Democracy in India has been sustained through the independent functioning of various constitutional and statutory institutions. When past governments in power attempted to fiddle with their independence, it used to be met with loud protests by the opposition parties except for the dark period during 1975-77 when emergency resulted in an authoritarian rule. There is a sweeping discontent visible to the people from within these institutions and which poses a danger for the country’s democracy if institutions if they are consistently pressurised to function for political ends. As the Modi government nears the end of its term, the list of Constitutional and statutory institutions such as the CBI,CVC,CAG,ECI, CIC, Supreme Court, that are unable to bear its interference, and are openly protesting has been unfolding day by day. These bodies maintain their autonomy as they are responsible only to the Parliament and not to the executive. i.e though major process of appointments to these institutions are carried out by Political executive, subsequent functioning can be altered only by Parliament through a difficult process. Today the Prime Minister’s Office(PMO) has become the most powerful office overseeing all ministries, military and politics of the nation. The rise of powerful coterie had led L.K.Advani to express fears of a repeat of the Emergency as “forces that can crush democracy have become stronger” in India. His remarks could only be directed at those in power. Advani was compelled to explain that the “forces” meant the Congress. His clarification was absurd as those who have become stronger are from his own party. The ECI is among the most crucial institutions conducting elections and enforcing the rules of the game. ECI went against convention when then CEC A.K.Joti did not announce election for Gujarat but only for Himachal Pradesh despite the fact that these two states have followed nearly identical electoral calendars since 1998. This helped Modi escape model code of conduct to announce sops. Next, ECI delayed the press conference to announce election in Rajasthan. Again, this gave time to BJP to announce poll sops. Recently the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy director Viral Acharya has called out the Modi government for impinging upon the RBI’s independence. The CBI war is a fallout between two favourites of the government, director Alok Verma and deputy director Rakesh Asthana. The Central Vigilance Commission, another statutory body, has been headed by a Modi appointee KV Chowdary since 2015. Interestingly, the innocuous manner in which constitutional and statutory institutions today are being “fixed” has escaped any loud protests or outcries because the Indian media has instead turned hostile against the opposition. Even in the Rafale deal, the Indian media refuses to accord the importance at front page while some do not even carry it. The forces that Advani spoke about have indeed become very powerful.