Arrest Downslide Towards Autocracy

The letter by nine opposition party leaders including chief ministers of four states— West Bengal, Delhi, Telangana and Punjab—and a deputy chief minister (Bihar), to the Prime Minister on misuse of central agencies has not come a day too soon.

The leaders have very legitimately expressed concern over role of central agencies such as Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate, Department of Income Tax, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, against the Opposition leaders, parties and political rivals. The letter also cites use of Governors to settle scores with the State governments. They have also cited as to how the agencies who were slapping corruption charges against certain leaders, turned silent once these leaders joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The letter has also mentioned how funds to the tune of Rs 78,000 crore from State Bank of India (SBI) and the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) have been put to risk by allowing them to be invested in a company (read Adani Enterprises, though name not mentioned) which has come under the lens of international agencies for accounting frauds and manipulation of stock markets.

Though arrest of Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia may have spurred the leaders into action, the vindictive drive and witch-hunt has been on ever since the Union government has begun perceiving the opposition parties to be malcontents out ‘to mess up the moonlit night dawning over India under the BJP rule’. The drive that began with arrest of RJD Leader Lalu Prasad Yadav in Bihar, has been incessantly carried on against leaders with the potential to challenge the BJP’s rise in states.

Not alone this, the Governors in West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana and earlier in Maharashtra under Shiv Sena’s rule could be seen interfering with the administrative apparatus of the state, solely a responsibility of the State government. Mr. Arif Mohammed Khan in Kerala had a ding-dong battle with the Left Front Government over appointment of vice chancellors.

Tamil Nadu Governor too has had fractious ties with DMK Government in the State while Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundarajan has been frequently in the news for her stinging swipes against the Government of Mr K. Chandrashekhar Rao. Former West Bengal Governor Mr Jagadeep Dhankhar produced more headlines for his confrontation with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee than his Kerala counterpart.

Not surprisingly, the across the board weakening of the safeguards against subversion of democracy have found expression in the latest Germany-based V.Dem Institute’s Democracy Report for 2023. India’s ranking on the latest Liberal Democracy Index has dipped further from 100th position in 2022 to 108th this year. India is now way below countries such as Tanzania, Bolivia, Mexico, Singapore and even Nigeria, which comes in at a modest 91st slot. India can only draw satisfaction from Pakistan being further down i.e., at 110th position.

The report has cited the ruling right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm responsible for curbs on religious freedom and diminishing democratic rights. Given this and several such reports and criticism on international forum for attack on democratic institutions in India, it is imperative that the dispensation at the Centre wakes up to the challenge of arresting the downslide and inexorable descent towards autocracy