India, the largest democracy and a highly populated nation in the world, general elections have become a democratic festival. Concept of democracy is based on the principle of universal adult franchise. Which provides the right to vote for the Indian adult population to choose the government for the protection of their rights and fulfill their needs. Abraham Lincoln said, “Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, and for the people”. It empowers people to form or throw out any government. The paradox here is, what if this decision-making power gets hijacked through diverse reasons such as fusion of politics with religion, promotion of class and caste divisions, use of violence, hate speech, booth capturing, money laundering, financial manipulation, use of masculine power and abuse of power by influential actors. These actions can undermine its core principle and suppress the notion of free and fair elections. In the current scenario largest and oldest democracies in the world are facing democratic decline [1].
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Source: Cartoon Moment |
In 2023, India was positioned into a league of countries, that are facing a sliding shift towards authoritarianism like Brazil, Poland, the United States, and Hungary to the democracy report of the V-Dem Institute. Almost one-third of world population, 415 million to 2.3 billion people lived in these countries. Countries which are on democratic decline, faces various problems such as rise in disinformation, communalism, control on media, literature and increased populism. Democratic erosion mainly attacks on media, academic, and cultural freedom which increases polarization in the society. “Reporters without Border” and “V- Dem Institute have identified that these countries are dangerous for journalists. Media houses are mainly concentrated in the hands of actors, which are loyal to the ruling party. Government sometimes uses defamation and sedition laws to silence critics. Their data indicates that social media platforms have been used to mobilize ethnic cleansing during elections. Lührmann (2023).
Social polarization spreads hate and
animosity in society. It also intensifies the divisions based on caste,
class, and religion in the society. After the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, over 600
cases of communal violence were reported, which were mainly concentrated in Uttar
Pradesh[2].
A few months before Delhi’s state assembly election in 2014, Hindu-Muslim riots
occurred in Trilokpuri[3].
There was a visible pattern of communal polarization within UP and Delhi. The vote share of parties aligned with Hindutav has increased by 4.4% from 2.9% as
different riots occurred. Ethnic riots are the best medium to invade the silence
about ethnic issues and identities among voters, to create a favorable electoral
environment[i].
According to the National Bureau of Crime Records,” Maharashtra has topped in
communal riots in 2022 by 8,218 cases of rioting[4].
Figure: 1 Source: NCRB
A survey conducted by NCRB and CSSS
monitoring from 2017-2021 on communal riots, shows that 2020 has seen the highest number of communal riots with a total of 857 incidents. Given graph (Figure:
2) highlights that India has seen the highest
surge of communal violence with 857 cases by 2022 and 723 by 2017 after the BJP have
come into power.
Figure: 2 Source: CSSS.
Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Karnataka were highly affected states by communal
riots. Citizenship amendment bills and
protests against the law fuelled various violent incidents at some educational
institutions. Which were motivated by communal hate against Muslim minority
communities, vote bank politics, and appeasement policies for particular sections of society. Red Corridor, Northeastern India, Jammu & Kashmir, West
Bengal, and Kerala are considered highly vulnerable areas for electoral
violence
Figure: 3 shows the unsocial activities that took place during the Indian general Election 2019. It highlights that activities of
electoral violence during 2019 concluded highest no. of violence against
civilians and deaths. The main reasons for violent activities during elections are
Maoist insurgency, ongoing militancy, and civil conflicts. Jammu & Kashmir,
Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh are highly affected areas.
When left-wing insurgents denounce and oppose the state’s legitimacy and election.
These activities include targeted political murders, booth capturing, attacking
polling stations, journalists, and security personnel.
Figure: 3
Source: ACLED[5]
West Bengal has a very old history of political violence, due to rivalry among the Trinamool Congress Party (TMC), Communist Party of India (CPIM), and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP). The rise of TMC and the increasing vote share of the BJP in the state takes back to the era of the communist state government[6]. The aggressively charged environment of the state explodes during elections in the form of murder, clashes, firing, rioting, and violence.
Figure: 4
Source: ALCED[7]
[1] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/maternitybenefitactboonandbaneforthenation/is-religion-a-political-tool-in-india-51620/
[2] https://indianexpress.com/article/india/uttar-pradesh/express-investigation-part-i-over-600-communal-incidents-in-up-since-ls-results-60-near-bypoll-seats/
[4] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/maharashtra-tops-country-in-rioting-cases-in-2022-ranks-3rd-in-murders-and-4th-in-rapes-ncrb-data/articleshow/105752509.cms
[6] https://www.indiatoday.in/elections/lok-sabha-2019/story/west-bengal-election-political-violence-history-trinamool-congress-bjp-left-mamata-banerjee-amit-shah-1526598-2019-05-16
[7] https://acleddata.com/2019/06/03/the-indian-general-election-2019-a-final-recap/
[i] Wilkinson S., “Votes and violence: Electoral competition and ethnic riots in India”, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press (2004)
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