Author: Sudip Mandal
DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.70798/Bijmrd/04020014
Abstract: This study mainly discusses all the major challenges that India faces in establishing the status of the world’s strongest-largest democracy in the current century. Equality and freedom are essential elements of any democracy. The Constitution of India recognizes and protects the right to personal liberty as the cornerstone of a democratic edifice. That carefully cherished Indian democratic freedom has waned today. At the same time, in very recently the electoral majority has become extremely dominant factor in Indian democracy. It is a much more exploratory study from a critical point of view. This study has been completed using descriptive analysis method with purely qualitative study. The present researcher has collected primary and secondary information through books, journals, internet, websites, reports of various think tank institutes and other relevant sources. Major findings of this study are that various studies (V-Dem Institute 2020 reports) have shown that in the last few years, the ultimate electoral majority in India’s democracy has turned into an ‘Electoral Autocracy’. In India, the situation has changed since the Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, won two consecutive general elections in May 2019, and Hindutva has taken over society and politics with the rise of nationalists. With the continuous rise of ‘Hindu Nationalism’ in the country, society and politics have been taken over by Ulta Hindu nationalists. Freedom of expression has been curtailed there as well as the freedom of the media and civil society is far from over. Recently, the central government used the UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. 2019 as a tool to harass, intimidate and imprison politicalopponents, as well as to silence dissident academics using the UAPA Act. In the 21st century, in the wake of the above-mentioned dramatic changes events, India has faced great challenges in shrinking freedom of expression and declining democracy.
Keywords:Democracy, Freedom, Electoral Dictatorship, Hindu Nationalism.
Page No: 121-126