As India marks another year under prolonged one-party dominance, the foundations of its democracy face unprecedented strain. Global assessments paint a grim picture: the V-Dem Institute classifies India as an “electoral autocracy,” while Freedom House rates it “partly free,” highlighting a steady decline since 2014 in key democratic indicators like media freedom, civil liberties, and institutional independence.
At the heart of this erosion lies the compromised integrity of the electoral system. The Election Commission of India’s 2025 Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls—covering multiple states ahead of upcoming assembly polls—has sparked widespread outrage. Critics, including opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi, allege the process disproportionately deletes names from minority communities, particularly Muslims, and opposition-leaning areas, through unverified mass removals and dubious “legacy linkage” requirements tracing back to old rolls. Nationwide protests have highlighted anomalies, such as duplicate entries in ruling party strongholds, branding it a veiled mechanism to disenfranchise vulnerable voters and tilt future elections.
This manipulation coincides with overt authoritarian measures. Investigative agencies like the ED and CBI continue to target opposition leaders with selective arrests on serious charges, often leading to prolonged detention without conviction. The proposed Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025, which seeks automatic removal of ministers (including chief ministers) after 30 days in custody for offenses punishable by five years or more, has been lambasted as a tool to topple non-BJP governments through engineered arrests and bail denials—lowering safeguards from conviction to mere pre-trial detention.
Minority communities bear the brunt of rising persecution, with increased incidents of violence, discrimination, and impunity. Media faces relentless pressure through censorship, raids, and harassment, while civil society groups and academics encounter funding freezes and surveillance. Parliament functions increasingly as a formality, with key legislation bulldozed amid curtailed debates and opposition disruptions.
A stark recent illustration is the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, passed in December 2025 amid fierce protests and parliamentary dharnas. Replacing the iconic MGNREGA—a demand-driven, rights-based lifeline for rural poor—the new law raises guaranteed workdays to 125 but introduces capped central funding (shifting to 60:40 Centre-state sharing), seasonal pauses during peak farming, and narrowed focus on select infrastructure themes. Opposition parties decry it as diluting entitlements, imposing fiscal burdens on states, and centralizing control, eroding the original scheme’s empowering ethos.
When elections are systematically undermined and institutions weaponized to perpetuate power, relying solely on the vote becomes futile. History teaches that authoritarian regimes yield only to unified, persistent non-electoral action: widespread mobilization, civil disobedience, strikes, boycotts, and peaceful protests that transcend partisan lines.
India’s own successes—the 1970s anti-Emergency movement and the prolonged farmers’ agitation—demonstrate the power of relentless, broad-based resistance. Today, the fragmented opposition INDIA alliance must prioritize solidarity over differences, while civil society ramps up coordinated campaigns against voter suppression, minority targeting, and institutional capture.
The stakes could not be higher. Passivity risks entrenching irreversible autocracy; only bold, sustained defiance across society can reclaim and revitalize India’s democratic promise. The moment to act decisively is now—united, enduring, and uncompromising.
