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PM Modi to visit poll-bound Karnataka on March 25, take a ride on new metro route

Prime minister narendra modi will visit poll-bound karnataka on march 25 and take part in various programmes in chikkaballapur, bengaluru and davangere. pm modi will inaugurate the white field metro line and will also take a ride on the metro..

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit poll-bound Karnataka on March 25 to participate in various programmes organised in Chikkaballapur and Bengaluru. PM Modi will also attend the closing ceremony of the BJP's Vijaya Sankalpa Yatra in Davangere.

This will be the prime Minister's seventh visit to Karnataka this year.

PM Modi will arrive at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) airport in Bengaluru on the morning of March 25. He will then fly to Chikkaballapur to inaugurate Sri Madhusudan Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research.

PM Modi will fly back to Bengaluru in the afternoon to inaugurate the White Field Metro Line and will also take a ride on the metro. PM Modi will then address a public meeting at Davangere.

The prime minister will then proceed to Shivamogga airport and take a plane to Delhi, according to a press release.

PM Modi last visited Karnataka on March 12 to inaugurate the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway in Mandya and the IIT campus in Dharwad.

PM Modi took part in a massive roadshow in Mandya.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with beneficiaries of various government schemes in Mysuru

Karnataka: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates KSS Sanskrit Pathashala & hostel building and releases books at Sutturu Math in Mysuru.

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PM Modi to visit Bengaluru today, review HAL manufacturing facility including Tejas

The manufacturing programs underway at hal are production of su-30 mki, lca & do-228 aircraft and alh-dhruv, chetak, cheetal & lch helicopters. the repair overhaul (roh) programs being carried out presently are jaguar (with upgrade), mirage (with upgrade), kiran, hs-748, an-32, mig 21, others..

"The prime minister will review and visit the HAL's manufacturing facility, including the facility for Tejas jets," a source said.

Modi has been pushing for indigenous production of defence products and has highlighted how his government has boosted their manufacturing in India and also their exports.

Several countries have shown interest in buying Tejas, a light combat aircraft, and US defence giant GE Aerospace had inked a pact with HAL to jointly produce engines for the Mk-II-Tejas during the prime minister's state visit to the US.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had noted in April this year that India’s defence exports have reached an all-time high of Rs 15,920 crore in FY 2022-2023. It is a remarkable achievement for the country, he had said.

ALSO READ |  PM Modi to attend UN World Climate Action Summit in Dubai on November 30: Sources

Read all the Breaking News Live on indiatvnews.com and Get Latest English News & Updates from Karnataka

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PM Modi Arrives In Bengaluru For 2-Day Karnataka Visit

Elaborate security arrangements have been made both in Bengaluru and Mysuru for the PM's visit.

PM Modi tweeted both in Kannada and English sharing details of his visit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Bengaluru on Monday on a two-day visit to Karnataka, during which he will be participating in a series of events in the city and Mysuru, and inaugurate or lay foundation for various developmental works.

Laying the foundation stone for Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project, inauguration of Dr BR Ambedkar School of Economics (BASE), participating in the International Yoga Day event and visit to Chamundi hills to offer prayers to Goddess Chamundeshwari, the reigning deity of Mysuru and Suttur Mutt, a prominent Lingayat seminary, are among the key highlights of the visit.

#WATCH PM Modi welcomed by BJP workers and supporters on his arrival in Bengaluru, Karnataka pic.twitter.com/ReEvydIYwF — ANI (@ANI) June 20, 2022

PM Modi was received at the Yelahanka Airforce Station here by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, veteran BJP leader BS Yediyurappa, and state party chief Nalin Kumar Kateel.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, several of Bommai's cabinet colleagues, Members of Parliament, legislators, and officials were among those present.

Before leaving for Bengaluru from New Delhi, PM Modi tweeted both in Kannada and English sharing details of his visit.

"Leaving for Karnataka, where I will be attending programmes in Bengaluru and Mysuru. The first programme will be held at @iiscbangalore, where a Centre for Brain Research would be inaugurated. The foundation stone of the Bagchi-Parthasarathy Multispeciality Hospital will be laid," PM Modi tweeted.

"This afternoon, I will be at the Dr. BR Ambedkar School of Economics (BASE), Bengaluru to inaugurate a new campus of BASE University and unveil the statue of Dr B. R. Ambedkar. 150 tech hubs would also be dedicated to the nation. These have been developed by transforming ITIs," he said.

Noting that during a programme in Bengaluru, development works worth over Rs 27,000 crore would either be inaugurated or their foundation stones would be laid, the PM said these works cover diverse sectors and will boost 'Ease of Living' for the people of Bengaluru and surrounding areas.

"I will reach Mysuru at around 5:30 PM and there too, key development works would either be inaugurated or their foundation stones would be laid. I will also be attending a programme at Suttur Math. Tomorrow morning, the Yoga Day programme will also take place in Mysuru," he added.

Responding to PM's tweet, CM Bommai welcoming him said, " I thank him for choosing our land which is blessed with rich fauna & flora, to celebrate the International Yoga Day in the year of #AzadiKaAmritMahotsav."

"Heartfelt gratitude to Hon'ble PM @narendramodi Ji for being a part of the celebration of development projects in diverse sectors, worth over Rs 27,000 crores.

These projects will boost 'Ease of Living' for the people of Bengaluru & the neighbouring areas," he added.

As per the Prime Minister's itinerary, Modi after IISC and BASE events, will reach Kommaghatta to dedicate to the nation various projects in Bengaluru including the inauguration of "India's one and the only and first Air Conditioned" Railway Station, which is in Bayyappana Halli.

He will also lay the Foundation Stone for the Bengaluru Suburban Railway Projects and Six National Highway Projects in Karnataka worth Rs 7,231 crore, comprising various five National Highway Projects and one Multi-Model Logistic Park Projects in the same venue.

PM Modi will then leave for Mysuru, where he will lay the foundation stone for the new coaching complex to be established at Naganahalli and then, proceed to All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH) and dedicate the Centre of Excellence there. Besides, he will interact with the beneficiaries of the central government scheme at the same venue.

He will dedicate 'Veda Patashala' building and release commentaries on Yoga and Bhakthi at Suttur Math.

The PM will visit Chamundi Hills the same evening and have the Darshan of Goddess Sri Chamundeshwari at the Sri Chamundeshwari Temple and return to Mysuru and halt there on that day.

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On June 21, PM Modi will participate in the International Day of Yoga with the theme "Yoga for Humanity" organized by the Department of Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Sidda and Homoeopathy ( AYUSH ), at the Palace premises, and leave for New Delhi the same morning.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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PM Modi to campaign in Bengaluru and Chikkaballapura today

Bengaluru, Apr 20 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Bengaluru and neighbouring Chikkaballapura district for the Lok Sabha poll campaign on Saturday.

He will address mega rallies both in Bengaluru and Chikkaballapura.

Modi held mega rallies in Kalaburagi and Shivamogga last month. On April 14, he addressed a rally in Mysuru, during which he shared the dais with JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, and later held a roadshow in Mangaluru.

According to the state BJP, the Prime Minister is scheduled to address a mega public meeting at Chokkahalli village in Chikkaballapura district at 2 PM, covering Chikkballapur and Kolar Lok Sabha constituencies, and later at 4 PM he will participate in a massive rally in Bengaluru's palace ground, covering Bangalore North, Bangalore South, Bangalore Central and Bangalore Rural segments.

Bangalore -North, South and Central have been BJP's bastions, while Rural is represented by Congress' D K Suresh, brother of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.

Former Minister K Sudhakar is the BJP candidate from Chikkballapur, its alliance partner JD(S) has fielded M Mallesh Babu from Kolar Lok Sabha segment.

BJP's sitting MPs Tejasvi Surya and P C Mohan are candidates from Bangalore South and Central respectively. Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje is in the fray from Bangalore North. In Bangalore Rural Deve Gowda's son-in-law and eminent cardiologist Dr C N Manjunath is contesting on a BJP ticket as per the arrangement with alliance partner JD(S).

Karnataka is going for polls in two phases. While14 Lok Sabha segments in the southern part of the state are going for election on April 26, in the second phase voting for the northern districts will be held on May 7.

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Chandrayaan-3: PM Modi to visit Bengaluru on August 26 to congratulate ISRO team

The karnataka bjp is planning a grand welcome for the prime minister by organising a mega road show in the city on his arrival..

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Bengaluru on August 26, to greet the ISRO scientists and officials for the successful landing of Candrayaan-3's lander and deployment of rover on moon's surface.

The Karnataka BJP is planning a grand welcome for the Prime Minister by organising a mega road show in the city on his arrival, senior BJP leader and former Minister R Ashoka said on Thursday.

"PM Narendra Modi is coming on August 26. We will be receiving him in big numbers with more than 6,000 people at HAL airport. There, he might address the people of Bengaluru. Our (BJP) national leader Santosh ji (General Sec B L Santosh) just spoke to me to organise a mega roadshow in Peenya, I have spoken to Dasarahalli MLA Muniraju on this," he said.

Speaking to reporters here, Ashoka said the Prime Minister has given the opportunity to the people of Bengaluru to share this joy with him. "We the people of Bengaluru will give Modi a grand welcome, because ISRO means Benagluru and Bengaluru means ISRO. He is coming here to congratulate ISRO scientists," he added.

Though the details of PM's visit have not been shared, he is likely to visit the Missions Operations Complex at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) here to congratulate the scientists and officials of the space agency.

PM Modi on Wednesday congratulated ISRO Chairman S Somanath on the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission and said he would soon visit them in Bengaluru to greet the entire team in person. He had a phone conversation with Somanath from Johannesburg, where he is attending the BRICS summit.

Before the phone conversation, he had virtually witnessed the landing and addressed ISRO scientists from Johannesburg.

Noting that the plan was to organise a roadshow of about 1 km near Peenya, Ashoka said at the airport too there will be a gathering of people to welcome the PM. A meeting has been convened at the party office to discuss and finalise things, he added.

India on Wednesday scripted history as ISRO's ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3's Lander Module (LM) touched down on the lunar surface, making it only the fourth country to accomplish the feat, and first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth's only natural satellite.

The LM comprising the lander (Vikram) and the rover (Pragyan), made the soft landing near the south polar region of the Moon last evening. Earlier today, ISRO announced that the rover rolled down from the lander, stating "India took a walk on the moon."

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Karnataka Election 2024 Live Updates: 63% voter turnout registered till 5 pm

Karnataka election 2024 live: the voting percentage for the second phase of karnataka lok sabha elections till 5 pm stands at 63.90 percent..

Karnataka Election 2024 Live: 

Karnataka witnessed a fight between the Congress and the BJP in the second phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Of the 28 seats, voting to 14 seats began at 7 am on April 26. The Congress contested all 14 seats, whereas the BJP fielded 11 candidates and its ally JD(S) fielded three (Hassan, Mandya, and Kolar).

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the alliance of Congress and JD(S) had won just one seat each in these 14 segments while the BJP had won 11.

Karnataka Election 2024 Live Updates: Congress hopes to win in Bengaluru city

After casting his vote, Karnataka Health Minister and Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao said, “In Karnataka, there is a chance to win more than 20 seats (for Congress). I believe the result will be in our favour after the first voting in the state. This time, we hope to win in the Bengaluru city... Everyone should participate and cast their vote. Generally, the voter turnout is less than 60% in Bengaluru. Voting is necessary for democracy...”

Karnataka Election 2024 Live Updates: Banjarumale hamlet in Dakshina Kannda records 100% voting

-- Banjarumale, an interior hamlet in Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannda district, recorded 100 percent voting in the Lok Sabha election on Friday.

-- This hamlet has 111 voters and each one of them turned up at the only polling booth, completing voting two hours before polling ended at 6pm.

-- The hamlet is inhabited by forest dwellers, tribal farmers and collectors of minor forest waste.

Karnataka Election 2024 Live Updates: EVMs destroyed as two groups of villagers clash in Chamarajanagar district

EVMs were destroyed at a polling station in Indiganatha village in Chamarajanagara district on Friday during a clash between two groups of people over whether to vote or not in the Lok Sabha elections.

According to the district administration, the villagers had earlier in the day decided to boycott the polls citing lack of adequate infrastructure development. However, after assurances and efforts by the local officials, polling went underway.

As per preliminary information, one of the groups wanted to vote while the other was keen to boycott leading to clashes between them during which they destroyed EVMs, and also indulged in stone-pelting.

Karnataka Election 2024 Live Updates: 63% votes registered till 5 pm

The voting percentage for the Karnataka Lok Sabha elections till 5 pm stands at 63.90 percent.

Karnataka Election 2024 Live Updates: In second phase of polls, Congress contests all 14 seats, BJP fields 11 candidates, JD(S) 3

Karnataka witnessed a fight between the Congress and the BJP in the second phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Of the 28 seats, voting to 14 seats began at 7 am on April 26. The Congress contested all 14 seats, whereas the BJP fielded 11 candidates and its ally JD(S) fielded three (Hassan, Mandya and Kolar).

Karnataka Election 2024 Live Updates: Kannada film industry shows a solid turn out at booths

The Kannada film industry celebrities turned up to vote today, since morning, displaying their commitment to the democratic process. Notably, actor-activist Prakash Raj was among the first to arrive at the polling booth. "My vote is for the candidate that I have faith in, and secondly for the issues mentioned in the manifesto of the parties. I have voted against the hate and people who are dividing the country. I have voted for a good representative from my constituency," said the actor after casting his franchisee.

Karnataka Election 2024 Live Updates: Senior women officers in Chamarajanagar inspire voter participation with specially-designed sarees

Eight senior women officers of the district administration in Karnataka's Chamarajanagar donned specially-designed silk sarees with a message aimed at encouraging voter participation. Among these women was Deputy Commissioner Shilpa Nag, who also serves as the Election Officer for the Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha constituency. The message on their sarees read "Chunavana Parva-Deshada Garva" (festival of election is the country's pride), receiving widespread praise for their initiative.

Karnataka Election 2024 Live Updates: I think people want a change, says actor Shiva Rajkumar

After casting his vote, Actor Shiva Rajkumar says, "I am happy because it is everyone's right to vote. When we vote, we have every right to ask questions... People's response is very good. I think they want a change..."

Karnataka Election 2024 Live Updates: Case registered against Tejasvi Surya for seeking votes on religious grounds

Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka announces via a social media that a case has been registered against BJP MP Tejasvi Surya. It wrote: “Case is booked against Tejasvi Surya MP and Candidate of Bengaluru South PC on 25.04.24 at Jayanagar PS u/s 123(3) for posting a video in 'X' handle and soliciting votes on the ground of religion.”

Karnataka Election 2024 Live Updates: Dakshina Kannada records highest turnout so far at 58.76 percent

Out of 14 constituencies, that went to polls today in Karnataka, the highest turnout of 58.76 percent was recorded in Dakshina Kannada, followed by Udupi-Chikmagalur at 57.49 percent.

The least was 40.10 percent in Bangalore Central. The turnout was 40.77 percent in Bangalore South and 41.12 percent in Bangalore North.

Bangalore Rural that is witnessing a tight contest between Congress' D K Suresh-- MP and brother of Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar-- and Dr CN Manjunath, a noted cardiologist and son-in-law of former PM HD Deve Gowda, on a BJP ticket, has recorded 49.62 percent polling.

Karnataka Election 2024 Live Updates: N Chaluvaraya Swamy cast his vote at a polling booth in Mandya earlier today

VIDEO | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Karnataka minister N Chaluvaraya Swamy cast his vote at a polling booth in Mandya earlier today. #LSPolls2024WithPTI #LokSabhaElections2024 (Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/dv5TRARJn4 ) pic.twitter.com/wChPu4goUI — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 26, 2024

Karnataka Election 2024 Live Updates: Karnataka registers 50.93% voter turnout

Karnataka registered 50.93 percent voter turnout till 3 pm in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

Karnataka Election 2024 Live Updates: BJP has failed, Congress will win with thumping majority, says Shivakumar

“Congress party has implemented all the promises that were made to the people of Karnataka. Congress party believes in its word. The people of the state are very happy, and it is evident from the voters' turnout. BJP has failed, we will win in the state with a thumping majority,” says Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar

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Is India an Autocracy?

The erosion of democratic norms didn’t begin with Narendra Modi.

Last October, Indian authorities revived legal proceedings against the novelist and activist Arundhati Roy. In a case first registered against her in 2010, Roy stood accused of “provocative speech” that aroused “enmity between different groups” for having said that Kashmir was not an “integral” part of India . The charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years and kept her from traveling to Germany to deliver the opening address at the 2023 Munich Literature Festival.

The assault on expression, and on virtually every other mainstay of democracy, has become commonplace under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, and it is the backdrop against which Indians have begun voting to elect their next Parliament and prime minister. Of the nearly 1 billion eligible voters , perhaps more than 600 million will cast their votes over a six-week-long process. Modi, who heads the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is widely expected to win a third term as prime minister in his bitter contest against a motley alliance of opposition parties, the Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).

Read: What has happened to the rule of law in India?

The spectacle of hundreds of millions of Indians—many suffering severe material deprivation—performing their civic duty arouses both hope and wonder, often winning India the title of “world’s largest democracy.” But Indian democracy did not just begin to degrade under Modi: It has been eroding since the first years of independence. Modi has put that process on steroids and today presides over an autocracy in all but name.

For decades, the Indian state has used coercive legal powers to suppress dissent and constitutional mechanisms to delegitimize votes. The judiciary has largely acquiesced, money has gushed into Indian politics, and Hindu nationalism has cast a dark shadow of division. What are treated now as anomalies have been the trajectory all along.

Nonetheless, world leaders, including President Joe Biden, often describe India as a vibrant democracy . Even more nuanced analyses hold that Indian democracy will withstand the current crisis because Indians respect diversity and pluralism, the country’s democratic institutions are strong, and recovery is inevitable.

This romantic view of an inherently democratic India is a fairy tale. According to the Swedish think tank V-Dem, India was never a liberal democracy , and today it is sliding ever more decisively toward autocracy. Even under its first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s impressive electoral apparatus did not guarantee equality before the law or ensure essential liberties to citizens. Subsequent leaders, rather than plugging the cracks in India’s constitutional foundation, expanded them, not least by using the state’s coercive power to circumvent democratic processes for personal or partisan advantage. Fraying democratic norms rendered free speech, dissent, and judicial independence casualties from the start.

The constitution that independent India adopted in 1950 defined the country as a democratic republic committed to justice, equality, and fraternity for its people . But the democratic conception of the state suffered its first blow when the constitution was just 18 months old. Nehru, frustrated that Indian courts were upholding the free-speech rights of his critics , amended the constitution in June 1951 to make seditious speech a punishable offense . Only one person was actually convicted of sedition before Nehru’s prime ministership ended with his death. But several suffered for extended periods after lower courts found them guilty and before higher ones reversed the verdicts. That long legal limbo had a chilling effect on speech.

The Indian constitution had other undemocratic features that Nehru deployed. It evinced a preoccupation with integrity and security , and emphasized the union, rather than autonomy, of the states it federated. If India’s central government deemed a state’s politics to be dysfunctional, it could place the state under a kind of federal receivership called President’s Rule, essentially disenfranchising the state’s electorate. Nehru imposed President’s Rule eight times during his tenure. The constitution had other significant gaps: It didn’t furnish social and economic equality to women, for example. Nehru tried to pass a bill that would override traditional Hindu patrimonial practices, but even in the postindependence glow of national unity, organized Hindu forces asserted their identity and political power. They stymied Nehru’s legislative efforts in 1951 and then the implementation of the laws that did pass later.

Nehru, for all his faults, valued tolerance and fairness. The same could scarcely be said of his daughter, Indira Gandhi, who followed soon after as prime minister and initiated a steep decline from such democratic norms as existed under Nehru. In 1967, she responded to a peasant protest in Naxalbari, West Bengal, by passing the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, which allowed the police to arrest and hold people without trial, bail, or explanation. This legislation would become an instrument of repression for decades to come. She also placed West Bengal under President’s Rule, and her chosen governor used the police and armed forces to wipe out a generation of idealistic students who supported the peasants. In fact, Gandhi imposed President’s Rule nearly 30 times from 1966 to 1975, when she declared an internal emergency and assumed dictatorial powers. Gandhi called for elections in early 1977, hoping to legitimize her autocratic rule. But when a frustrated Indian populace threw her out, the University of Chicago political scientists Lloyd and Susanne Rudolph—echoing a commonly held view—happily concluded , “Democracy has acquired a mass base in India.”

From the April 1940 issue: India’s demand and England’s answer

That proved wishful thinking. Upon reelection as prime minister in 1980, Gandhi accelerated the erosion of democratic norms. She imposed President’s Rule more than a dozen times in her second stint in power, from 1980 to 1984. She also began pandering to the sentiments of Hindus to win their votes, opening the door to the hard-line Hindu-nationalists who have since become an overpowering force in Indian politics.

Perhaps Gandhi’s most pernicious legacy was the injection of “black” money—unaccounted-for funds, accumulated through tax evasion and illegal market operations—into Indian politics. In 1969, she banned corporate donations to political parties. Soon after, her campaigns became extremely expensive, ushering in an era of “ briefcase politics ,” in which campaign donations came in briefcases full of cash, mostly filling the coffers of her own Congress Party. Criminals became election financiers, and as big-money (and black-money) politics spread, ideology and public interest gave way to politics for private gain. Legislators in state assemblies frequently “defected,” crossing party lines to bag ministerial positions that generated corrupt earnings.

And yet, for all the damage done to it, many analysts and diplomats still cleaved to the romantic view of Indian democracy. Upon Gandhi’s assassination in 1984, a former U.S. foreign-service officer, writing in Foreign Affairs, described the monarchical-style handover of power to her son, the political neophyte Rajiv, as proof of the “strength of the republic and its democratic constitutional system.”

Rajiv’s stewardship could rightly be seen in an entirely different light. He was the prime minister who let the gale force of Hindu nationalism blast through the door his mother had opened. He commissioned for the state-owned television network, Doordarshan, the much-loved Ramayana epic , which spawned a Rambo-like iconography of Lord Ram as Hindutva’s avenger. And he reignited a contest between Hindus and Muslims over the site of a 16th-century mosque called the Babri Masjid, which had been sealed since 1949 to contain communal passions. Hindu zealots claimed that the structure was built on Lord Ram’s birthplace, and Rajiv opened its gates . Then, in December 1992, Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao’s Congress Party–led government dithered as frenzied Hindu mobs demolished Babri Masjid, triggering bloody riots and further advancing the Hindu-nationalist cause.

The decade from 1989 to 1998 saw a series of coalition governments govern India—a development that the historian Ramachandra Guha has described as “a manifestation of the widening and deepening of democracy” because “different regions and different groups had acquired a greater stake in the system.” Democratic norms were, in fact, degrading at a quickening pace during this period. Big-money politics had bred mercenary politicians, who at the unseemly edge were gangster s providing caste representation, protection, and other services that the state could not supply. Politicians paid little attention to the public good—such as creating more jobs and improving education and health services, especially in the eastern states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh—and learned that they could use plausible corruption charges against one another as a weapon.

Hindu nationalism swelled. From 1998 to 2003, the BJP led a coalition government that began aligning school textbooks with a Hindu-nationalist agenda. A Congress-led government from 2004 to 2014 arrested this trend but presided over a steep descent into corruption: During that decade, the share of members of the lower house of Parliament charged with serious crimes—including murder, extortion, and kidnapping— reached 21 percent, up from 12 percent .

Read: India’s democracy is the world’s problem

Both the BJP and the Congress Party embraced a model of economic growth driven by the very rich, and both dismissed the injury to the economic interests of the weak and vulnerable, as well as to the environment, as necessary collateral damage. In Chhattisgarh, a Congress Party leader, with the support of the state’s BJP government, sponsored a private vigilante army to protect business interests, which included the exploitation of minerals and the mowing down of pristine forests in the tribal areas. When the supreme court declared the private vigilante army unconstitutional, Indian authorities responded in the manner of Andrew Jackson, who famously waved off the United States’ chief justice with the statement, “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.”

The anti-terrorism and anti-sedition provisions that earlier governments had supplied came in handy when the Congress-led coalition sought to suppress protests and intimidate opponents. The government also introduced and steadily widened the ambit of a new law, ostensibly for the prevention of money laundering, and it used the investigative powers of the state to its own benefit in whitewashing corruption: In 2013, a justice of the supreme court described the Central Bureau of Investigation as a “caged parrot” singing in “its master’s voice.”

India, on the eve of the election that brought Modi to power in May 2014, could thus hardly be described as a robust democracy. Rather, all the instruments for its demolition had already been assembled and politely passed along from one government to the next. In the hands of a populist demagogue such as Modi, the demolition instruments proved to be a wrecking ball.

As a candidate, Modi promised to right India’s feckless economic policy and countervail against the Congress Party’s corruption. These claims were not credible. Worse, as chief minister of Gujarat in 2002, Modi had failed to stop a bloody massacre of Muslims, thereby establishing himself as an avatar of Hindu-nationalist extremism. He couldn’t even get a visa to enter the United States.

Nonetheless, many of India’s public intellectuals were sanguine. Antidemocratic forces could be no match for the pluralistic disposition of India’s people and the liberal institutions of its state, some insisted. The political scientist Ashutosh Varshney noted that Modi had eschewed anti-Muslim rhetoric in his campaign—because, Varshney inferred, Indian politics abhorred ideological extremism. Another political scientist, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, asked the BJP’s political opponents to reflect on their own fascist tendencies. The Congress Party, Mehta wrote, “had done its best” to instill fear in citizens and corrode the institutions that protected individual rights; Modi would pull India out of the economic stagnation that Congress had induced.

Anti-Muslim violence spread quickly after Modi came to power. Prominent critics of Hindu nationalism were gunned down on their doorsteps: M. M. Kalburgi in Dharwad, Karnataka, in August 2015, and Gauri Lankesh in Bangalore in July 2017. And India was tumbling in global indicators of democracy. V-Dem has classified India as an electoral autocracy since 2018: The country conducts elections but suppresses individual rights, dissent, and the media so egregiously that it can no longer be considered a democracy in any sense of the word. Even the word “electoral,” though, in V-Dem’s designation, has become dubious since then.

Samanth Subramanian: Indian democracy is fighting back

Under Modi’s rule, India has taken a sharp turn toward autocracy, but to get there, the BJP had only to drive a truck through the fissures in the state’s democratic foundations that earlier governments had already widened. The government has seized the coercive powers of the state to fearsome ends, arresting activists and human-rights defenders under various provisions of the law. Successive Washington Post investigations have concluded that at least some of these arrests were based on planted evidence. One of those arrested, a Jesuit priest and human-rights activist, died in prison for want of medical attention when suffering from complications of COVID-19. Income and wealth inequalities have grown, in tandem with extraordinary expenditures even in state election campaigns. Demands for the demolition of more mosques have mounted. Inevitably, to woo Hindu voters, even opposition parties, including the Congress Party, have adopted a softer version of Hindu-nationalist ideology.

The BJP government regularly brings charges against its critics in the media for tax lapses or anti-nationalism, among other pretexts. Reporters Without Borders describes India as one of the most dangerous countries for journalists . In 2023, it ranked India 161 out of 180 countries in press freedom, citing the takeover of media outlets by oligarchs close to Modi and the “horrific” online harassment by Modi’s “army of online supporters.”

Can Indians really be said to vote freely under such circumstances? Even if the answer is yes, the government seems to have found the means to disenfranchise citizens after the fact. In August 2019, the government withdrew the constitutional provision that gave Kashmir special autonomy. It also downgraded Kashmir from a state to a territory, placing it under the direct control of the central government without consulting the people of Kashmir. Because the supreme court has refused to reverse this move, future central governments might similarly downgrade other states.

The chief ministers of Uttarakhand and Delhi are both in jail, awaiting trial on money-laundering charges, and the government has frozen the bank accounts of the Congress Party on allegations of tax evasion. Many opposition-party members who face criminal charges join the BJP, effectively giving the ruling party greater political power in exchange for the dismissal of the charges against them. A recent supreme-court directive requiring transparency in a segment of campaign financing revealed signs of extensive corruption primarily benefitting BJP politicians but also opposition leaders in charge of state governments.

Nevertheless, after Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the United States last June and his address to a joint session of the Congress, the White House’s joint U.S.-India statement read : “The United States and India reaffirm and embrace their shared values of freedom, democracy, human rights, inclusion, pluralism, and equal opportunities for all citizens.” In January, Secretary of State Antony Blinken referred to India as the “world’s largest democracy” and a vital partner, a position that the State Department continues to hold .

Such statements are at odds with the Indian reality. Over the seven decades since independence, Indian democracy has betrayed its people, leaving the majority without dignified jobs, foundational education, public health, or clean air and water. Alongside that betrayal, the death by a thousand cuts of democratic norms raises the troubling question: Is India now an autocracy?

If Modi wins this election, his victory will surely strengthen autocratic tendencies in India. But in the unlikely event that he loses, the erosion of democracy will merely have paused. Democracy is a fragile construct. When deviation from democratic norms persists for as long as it has in Indian politics, deviance becomes the norm. Reversing it becomes a monumental task. Especially if a winning opposition coalition fails to improve the quality of Indian lives, an electorally resurgent Modi and his Hindutva supporters could potentially seal democracy’s fate.

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At 8 times in 4 months, PM Modi’s Karnataka visits set to be highest in a year

The longest gap between two visits was of 29 months, between january 2020 and june 2022, and the opposition has accused the pm of ignoring the state when it was in distress.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Karnataka on April 9 to launch an event to mark the golden jubilee of Project Tiger, it will be his eighth visit to the state in four months, the highest ever in a single year since he became prime minister in 2014.

Since January 2015, Modi has visited the state a total of 32 times. Almost 25 per cent of these visits have been in the election year as the ruling BJP finds itself on shaky grounds over its prospects of returning to power.

Data accessed from Prime Minister of India’s website shows that the second-most Karnataka visits Modi made in a year were in 2018, also an election year. Six of the seven visits that year happened ahead of the elections. Five of these visits were “non-official”, meaning that he visited the state either after the model code of conduct took effect or to attend a BJP event. Modi participated in a campaign blitzkrieg just ahead of the polls as he came calling four times between May 1 and 9.

This year too Modi will be the BJP’s star campaigner and his visits are expected to cross the double digit mark. The prime minister’s visits this year have been related to the inaugurations of a slew of projects many of which the Congress alleges are incomplete. His first visit in 2023 was on January 12, when he inaugurated the 26th National Youth Festival at Hubballi. The second came a week later, on January 19, to Yadgir and Kalaburagi to distribute title deeds for the Banjara community. The third visit was on February 6 for the inauguration of the Indian Energy Week at Bengaluru and the fourth on February 13 for the launch of Aero India 2023. The fifth visit was on February 27 to inaugurate Shivamogga Airport while the sixth was on March 12 for the inauguration of the Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway.

During his most recent and the seventh visit, on March 25, Modi inaugurated the Whitefield Metro Line and participated in a public gathering at Davangere, apart from other events.

Data also shows that Modi did not visit the state even once during the two waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, between March 2020 and June 2021. The longest gap between his two visits to Karnataka was of 29 months, between January 2, 2020 and June 20, 2022, according to the PMO portal.

The prime minister’s frequent visits to the poll-bound state have triggered a row, with the Opposition Congress alleging that crores of rupees of taxpayer money were being wasted.

Congress MP D K Suresh said that BJP leaders were looting crores of rupees during rallies attended by the prime minister. “The Kempegowda statue inaugurated near Bengaluru International Airport cost Rs 59 crore, whereas the expense for the inauguration programme was Rs 30 crore,” he alleged.

He further alleged that the government had claimed that Rs 12 crore were spent for erecting pandals for a Modi event and that Rs 1 cr was billed as water expenses.

The social media wings of the Congress and the JD(S) have used memes and short videos to criticise these visits while accusing Modi of ignoring the state when it was under distress during the devastating floods of 2019 and 2020 and the Covid pandemic.

The PM visits to Karnataka so far

Visits in 2023: 7 (Mar 25, Mar 12, Feb 27, Feb 12, Feb 6, Jan 19, Jan 12)

2022: 3 (Nov 11, Sep 2, Jun 20)

2020: 1 (Jan 2)

2019: 6 (Sep 6, Apr 18 non-official (NO), Apr 13 NO, Apr 12 NO, Apr 9 NO, Mar 6)

2018: 7 (Nov 12, May 8,9 NO, May 5,6 NO, May 3 NO, May 1 NO, Feb 27 NO, Feb 19)

2017: 2 (Oct 29, Jan 8)

2016: 3 (Nov 13, May 29, Jan 2)

2015: 3 (Oct 6, Apr 2, Feb 18)

Total visit 32

(Source: https://www.pmindia.gov.in/en/pm-visits/?visittype=domestic_visit )

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Dr Shushruth Gowda, a renowned doctor from Mysuru and KPCC general secretary, left the Congress and joined the BJP after being denied a ticket to contest the Lok Sabha elections. He is the son of late Dr H C Vishnumurthy, a socialist and founder chairman of a hospital in Mysuru. Gowda praised PM Modi's work and vowed to work for BJP candidate Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar's win.

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