Despite being the world’s largest democracy, our country’s position in indicators of democracy and freedom continues to show no signs of improvement, as highlighted by the 2026 report of Freedom House, the international platform for studying freedom. Freedom House examines the extent of political rights and civil liberties in 195 countries and 13 other territories, categorising nations as free, partly free, or not free. Over the past two decades, 19 countries that were previously partly free have now become not free. According to this year’s new data, India, which scored 62 out of 100, has slipped by one point and continues to remain partly free. Even as a country where free and fair elections take place, the administrative tricks and tactics in governance have contributed to the erosion of democracy and, consequently, threatened India’s status as a free nation.
Since 2020, our country has not only remained on the list of partly free nations, but its decline has worsened each year. Instead of strengthening citizens’ confidence in elections and their commitment to democracy, the report indicates, the trust is being eroded. The unprecedented victory of the National Democratic Alliance, which won 203 out of 243 seats in last year’s Bihar assembly elections, raised doubts and debates among opposition leaders regarding the voter list and the electoral process. The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists was alleged to be an attempt to exclude backward community voters, including Muslims, in Bihar and 12 other states. As a result, on polling day, many voters experienced widespread difficulties in exercising their right to vote. Similarly, the Electoral Bond system, introduced after the BJP came to power at the Centre, was intended to fund political parties. Even though the Supreme Court intervened in 2024 and the system was altered, information on which institutions fund which parties remains inaccessible to the general public, except to the Election Commission.
The report states that India’s multi-party political system is also weakening. It presents data indicating that the BJP government at the Centre has been using investigative agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI to carry out political vendetta under the guise of anti-corruption drives and other investigations. Between 2014 and 2024, of the 121 political leaders questioned by the ED, 115 belonged to opposition parties. Of the 25 leaders who joined the BJP during this period, investigations against 23 were closed. In addition, there is visible administrative and political discrimination against women and racial minorities. Women’s representation in the Lok Sabha remains low at 14 percent. Following the last general election, Muslim representation in Parliament remains limited to 24 members. It should be remembered that this is the case of a community that constitutes 14.2 percent of the country’s population, according to the last census. In this way, democratic institutions and systems are increasingly subjected to deliberate value erosion.
Freedom House, which considers religious freedom and press freedom as benchmarks for value assessment, points out that India continues to decline in both areas. Media freedom is the first casualty in the collusion between political and business lobbies. The tendency to silence any dissent or opposition activity by branding it as anti-national is increasing in the country. Eliminating such dissent in marginalised communities is carried out under the form of “bulldozer justice". Even though the Supreme Court ruled two years ago that this practice is unconstitutional, it faced no obstacles last year. Following the Pahalgam terror attack in April 2025, hate speech against Muslims increased by 97 percent. There was no reduction in the Meitei-Kuki conflict in Manipur either. Now, at the administrative level, there is also a growing tendency to suppress opposition voices through lethal rule-making, as reflected in last year’s figures.
Even as the number of under-trial prisoners increases, the system continues to fail in delivering justice to them. Extending the period of detention without trial to three months reflects a lack of seriousness on the part of the government in safeguarding citizens’ rights. In this way, through violations of civil liberties and the destruction of democratic norms, in the process India too is engaging in actions that extend the growing shadow of authoritarianism worldwide. If corrective measures are not undertaken, the very identity of India as a democratic nation will ultimately be lost.