As India completes 70 years of its independence, the nation’s democracy is becoming Janus-faced. Its electoral vibrancy is not in doubt, but the polity’s performance between elections is acquiring profoundly illiberal traits.
In political theory, an illiberal democracy is defined as one that only pays attention to elections, while it violates, in the years between elections, some core democratic principles, especially freedom of expression.
It views elections as the only measure of democracy and once elected, it seeks unrestrained power, often on behalf of the majority community. The India of Narendra Modi, prime minister, is beginning to resemble this description.