On his recent visit to Washington, at a media gathering on June 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated, “Democracy is in India’s DNA, it is in India’s spirit, in its blood…” But is democracy really in India’s DNA and do India’s citizens and voters reward democratic behaviour and punish non-democratic behaviour? The answer is no. We in India cannot afford to be complacent that democracy has seeped into our DNA or that democratic culture is well established in our country.
Ironically, the PM made his remarks at a press meet in which only two questions were allowed. In the nine-year tenure of the Modi government, PM Modi has not held a single open press conference nor given a wide-ranging interview. Modi’s “democracy is in our DNA” remark also came barely 48 hours before India marked the imposition of the Emergency on June 25, 1975, by then prime minister, Indira Gandhi. But was Indira Gandhi punished by voters for imposing the Emergency?
