Death of democracy in India is a blow to the world, warns Gandhi

Former opposition leader Rahul Gandhi says world leaders have ignored the ‘disappearing’ of India's democracy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, walks along with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni during her ceremonial reception at presidential palace Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. Picture: AFP

India’s democracy is “disappearing” under the rule of Narendra Modi, with even its institutions losing their neutrality, the country’s opposition leader has warned during a visit to London.

Rahul Gandhi, who is set to address parliament today (Monday), chastised global leaders for ignoring what he characterised as the death of Indian democracy, saying it represented a blow to freedom around the world.

“It’s not just an Indian battle. It’s actually a much more important battle for a huge part of the democratic people,” Gandhi told an audience of London-based Indian journalists. “How would you react if democracy suddenly disappeared in Europe? You’d be shocked. You’d be like, ‘Oh my God, that’s a massive blow to democracy.’ Well, how would you react if a structure three and a half times the size of Europe suddenly went non-democratic? That’s happening already … but there’s no reaction.”

Indian MP and former Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has slammed the country’s Prime Minister for removing its democracy.

Gandhi’s Congress Party has been in freefall since Modi rode to power nine years ago on a wave of Hindu nationalism that he has continued to stoke in office. Under his government, attacks on minorities have soared and gone unpunished while the Indian press has been muzzled, with key outlets bought up by Modi-friendly oligarchs. Gandhi is set to lead the opposition into elections next year with little-to-no chance of toppling Modi, whose brand of Hindu nationalism has won him sky-high approval ratings despite economic missteps.

Gandhi claimed that the BJP, Modi’s party, and the RSS, its volunteer paramilitary, had captured the organs of power in India to such an extent that “the opposition in India is no longer fighting a political party. We are fighting the institutional structure of India.

“We are fighting the BJP and RSS, which has captured almost all Indian institutions. In the United Kingdom, I think institutions are neutral. That’s gone in India. We are fighting the institutions.

“Let the institutions of the country be the institutions of the country and not … of a fascist organisation,” Gandhi added, a reference to the RSS’s inspiration from the Hitler Youth.

He was speaking a day after a speech at Cambridge University during which he voiced similar warnings, saying Indian democracy was under attack from its own government and accusing it of using electronic surveillance on him and other opposition politicians.

The Cambridge speech provoked uproar among Modi allies at home, who accused Gandhi of defaming the country. India holds the presidency of the G20 and hosted foreign ministers from those countries last week in Bangalore, home to India’s own Silicon Valley. Modi has used the G20 presidency to promote the idea of India as a global leader, but the meeting was dominated by the bloc’s divisions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. India has refused to take a position over the conflict and has increased its purchase of Russian oil, helping to fund the war effort.

Asked about Ukraine, Gandhi indicated that he would not change Modi’s position and said he had no quarrel with his foreign policy, aside from his stance towards China. China has long been an adversary of India and the two countries have engaged in clashes along their disputed border in the Himalayas. Gandhi accused Modi of trying to downplay the situation, saying: “The Chinese are acting in a hostile manner, in an aggressive mind, and we need to be very, very careful. I’ve been stating that again and again. I don’t think the penny has dropped.”

The Times