India no longer a democracy: Rahul Gandhi

Hyderabad: Congress leader and LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, launching a diatribe against the Bharatiya Janata Party and raising the hackles of the saffron brigade, alleged on Saturday, “India is actually no longer a democracy”.

Speaking vehemently at the valedictory session of Bharat Summit hosted by the Telangana government at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) here on Saturday, Rahul asked how elections in India could be legitimate if the Election Commission declares 140 million voters to be illegal. "It is important for the democratic movement on the planet that India remains a democracy and what we have found and proven is that India is actually no longer a democracy," he claimed.

In 2014, the Congress witnessed a completely new election with millions of dollars injected into the political system and a completely new type of campaign, he said. He maintained that Congress has discovered that democracy was destroyed in India in 2014. Apologising to foreign delegates who could not attend the Bharat Summit in Hyderabad, Rahul alleged that they were not allowed to attend the event by the Union government. It gives a sense of what "we are dealing with in India," he observed.

Expressing his concerns over the role of ‘money power’ in elections since 2014, Rahul Gandhi alleged that BJP’s assets has since grown ‘elevenfold’.

Extrapolating these concerns in an international context, Rahul Gandhi said that “similar political forces” were challenging democratic, secular, and progressive movements across the world. He urged leaders and citizens to work together to address these challenges and help forge a new world order grounded in love, compassion, truth, non-violence, and mutual respect.

Alleging that the voices of fascist forces had grown louder over the past decade, resulting in the weakening and destruction of the country’s democratic institutions, Rahul Gandhi called upon people, particularly Congress workers and leaders from around the world, to confront fascist forces “through love, compassion, truth and non-violence rather than hatred, anger or attacks”.

“The 2014 general elections were unprecedented, with hundreds of crores of rupees being spent. Indian democracy was dismantled during those elections. Irregularities also marred the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In Maharashtra, the UPA alliance won a majority of Lok Sabha seats, but just three months later, we lost the Assembly elections. More than 70 lakh electors were added in the electoral rolls during this short period. The BJP won because of these additional and manipulated votes,” Rahul Gandhi alleged.

While referring to the growth of the IT sector in Hyderabad and Bengaluru, Rahul criticised the “growing concentration of wealth and economic power in the hands of a few corporate groups”.

“Take the example of Adani. Twelve years ago, he was ranked around 600th among the world’s richest people. Today, he has become the second-richest person. Since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, his business empire has expanded rapidly. Ports, airports and infrastructure projects have been handed over to him, and his investments are visible across sectors. These favoured businessmen are now exercising influence over our institutions,” he reasoned.

Rahul Gandhi questioned the contradiction between claims of India being a democracy and the alleged erosion of its institutions. “Even as our institutions are being destroyed, we continue to boast about being a democracy. Politics is not merely about speaking loudly or making sharp and aggressive criticisms.

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Venkateshwarlu Kolishetty

Venkateshwarlu Kolishetty