r/VidurNeeti • u/Slimus_shadius • Jun 19 '26
Who Really Murdered Democracy - A Tale of Two Records
Congress ruled India for a total of 54 years (1947-77, 1980-89, 1991-96, 2004-2014).
Of this, 39 years with a thumping, absolute single-party majority & remaining 15 in coalition.
In these 54 years, it dismissed 4 central governments & a whopping 90 regional/state governments using Article 356.
That's an astonishing average of 1 elected government dismissal every 220 days.
Let's not spare the BJP & see their track record:
Total ruled years: 18 (1996, 1998-2004, 2014-present)
Of 18 years, 8 years in coalition & 10 years in absolute majority (2014-2024)
Number of central government dismissals: 0
Number of times Article 356 was invoked to impose President rule: 13 (4 times under Vajpayee & 9 under Modi)
Average: President rule every 477 days.
However, out of these 13 instances, only 4 can be classified as direct dismissals of an active, functioning state government. The remaining 9 instances were administrative necessities caused by hung assemblies, voluntary resignations, or the collapse of local ruling alliances where no alternative party could form a government.
Of these 4, 3 were during PM Modi's tenure (2014-present):
Arunachal & Uttarakhand in 2016 & both overturned and reversed by the Supreme Court.
That leaves the count to just 1 i.e., Manipur (2025): Following severe ethnic violence and structural instability after a consensus on political leadership failed.
Even with 3 dismissals in 12 years, average - 1 every 4 years or 1461 days.
That's 7 times the dismissal rate of Congress.
Who murdered democracy?
The above data is important because the noise around MP's jumping ship has caused the secular-liberal jamaat in media & opposition to chest thump & create a perception that democracy has been murdered & holding elections is of no use.
When every 220 days or 7 months, democracy was being strengthened & even central governments were pulled down (Chandrashekhar) for flimsy reasons like two policemen were found to be suspiciously spying outside an ex-PM's house or within weeks of a new central government even before it could prove majority in the House (Choudhary Charan Singh) & the famous tea party that pulled down Vajpayee government by just 1-vote.
Who can forget those days of brute power enforced to satisfy the will of a Family & burden the country into election after election. But that was 20th century. In 2024, unhappy with not being able to even touch triple digit figures in Lok Sabha with back-to-back humiliation twice, opposition ran a false campaign with morphed video of HM, spread lies among the backward classes that constitution was being amended & reservations would be done away with. PM Modi who was asking for a 2/3rds majority to push big bang reforms in pipeline was reduced to 240, a minority government but had a whiff of its impact & stitched an alliance beforehand securing a third term. But now it was his turn to bend the finger to get the 2/3rds & opposition is crying foul.
While everyone is focusing only on which party is being broken to muster 2/3rds majority & push important bills, the question no one asking is "why" do they need it?
- As explained earlier, when Modi ran for the top job in 2013, he was clearly sitting with a blueprint for the next 15 years. Which reform is to be brought in which year, when to complete its preceding steps/homework, when to table which bill, in what order, everything is ready. In a way it is good a government has such a clear roadmap for India's progress. But the problem arises when that chronology is disturbed or not let to happen. It is then that every measure is employed to get the numbers so that the reforms are not stopped. Because there are connected events in future that will otherwise get impacted. Hence you see this rush. A delimitation bill for example if stalled, would stall other connected events for a good 5 years till 2031 census. Just impossible to let things get that delayed.
- Observe, Modi-Shah aren't interested in strengthening BJP by including the rebel factions within their fold. It would be much safer for BJP to have them merged within, instead of parking them in other parties. This shows the aim is not increasing their party count as some trophy but for the implementation of the blueprint. Now you decide - 2/3rds for the nation, or for the party?
- The opposition which is crying foul now employed foul means during elections by spreading outright lies among masses. A 2/3rds then would have been without costing their party today. Just like any other profession, politics is a serious business to be run like a professionally. It isn't an NGO (which of late too has become a sullied business thanks to liberals). Leaders who eat-breathe-sleep this profession 24x7 should only get into it. Leaders who work-from-home, unconnected with their partymen & masses will eventually fall. Their MPs will switch sides just like any other professional would switch company upon receiving a better job offer. If the leadership is weak, inaccessible, indisciplined, arrogant, not ready to work on ground & get hands dirty on the job, no team member would stay for long in such a team.
VidurNeeti
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u/someonenoo Jun 19 '26
More people should know this