Narendra Modi’s decade in power has seen an erosion of democracy alongside soaring inequality. While religious nationalism diverts public attention, the super-rich add to their wealth. Economic performance remains lacklustre, welfare spending stagnant, and authoritarian tactics silence dissent.
Atul Kohli; Kanta Murali
—Growing economic inequalities under Congress governments after 1991 fractured the party’s voter base, paving the way for Modi’s rise.
—Religious polarization and corporate power have grown simultaneously; India’s billionaires thrive amid the democratic decline.
—Institutional checks have been eroded and the opposition has been fractured: the judiciary, media, and election bodies have failed to counter executive power.
—There is little evidence to suggest a superior economic record in India after 2014: industrial growth has been sluggish, job creation minimal, and welfare spending flat
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As was true for Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi in the past, Narendra Modi will surely come to be recognized as one of India’s epoch-making political leaders. Whether one holds these leaders in favourable or unfavourable light, there is no denying that each of them have left their indelible mark on India’s political economy. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government — with Modi at the helm — has now completed more than a decade in office. It is time to take stock of the Modi-era.
In this essay, we evaluate the political and economic developments in India since 2014. We suggest that the defining characteristics of the Modi-era are two developments: erosion of India’s democracy; and growing economic inequalities. Moreover, these two trends are not just parallel developments; they are deeply connected. Growing economic inequalities gave us Modi. And Modi, in turn, has changed the political conversation, away from who gets what, when, and how in the political arena, to which gods we should honour. With the public’s attention focused on identity politics, the rich in India are becoming super-rich, and the super-rich are becoming world class billionaires. When religious nationalism has not sufficed in subduing political demands, Modi has used authoritarian tactics to stifle dissent in India.
We seek to both explain the rise of Modi and to assess his political and economic policies. Modi’s rise to power cannot be understood without revisiting political and economic developments during the two decades preceding 2014. Especially germane were the Congress’s failures. India’ economy grew handsomely during the rule of Congress and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) governments after 1991 and poverty came down. And yet, the Congress failed to capitalize politically on these economic successes.
The underlying reasons were both economic – especially, growing inequalities that were altering the social distribution of power in the country – and political – especially, failure of leadership. These are analyzed first. As the Congress shrunk politically, the better-organized BJP stepped in. While the attention-grabbing Rath Yatra and the subsequent destruction of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya are well known, the limits of religious mobilization are not always appreciated. After its initial success, following the Rath Yatra, the BJP’s support plateaued for nearly 25 years. Though it headed coalition governments during this period, it was unable to win electoral majorities on its own. India’s political system during this period was highly fragmented, lurching from one crisis to the next, crying out for political direction and stability. This is analyzed second. And then the third step in our analysis of the rise of Modi is how he – supported by Indian business – stepped in to the vacuum created by Congress’s failures….
https://www.theindiaforum.in/politics/india-under-modi-shrinking-democracy-growing-inequalities
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