The only legacy the Modi government will leave behind will be in the many form of ‘chori’ they have developed to subvert India’s democracy. They gave us ‘Media chori’ that reduced the once independent mainstream media to mouthpieces of the BJP. Every major news outlet was steered into the ownership of Modi ji’s corporate friends. All independent outlets were starved of funds, subjected to harassment, and muzzled into submission. In multiple states, they have done ‘Sarkar chori’. Even after losing the popular mandate, they have used coercion and money-power to purchase MLAs, topple opposition governments and put into place their puppets. They have done ‘institutional chori’. They have converted agencies like the CBI and ED into direct attack dogs of their governments. They have subverted once independent institutions such as the courts and even the Election Commission of India to do the bidding of the Modi government.

In Assam, they have done ‘constituency chori’. They have redrawn electoral maps so that the constituencies have been reshaped to suit the politics of the BJP. They are using SIR to do ‘vote chori’. Under the pretext of cleaning up voter rolls, they are specifically targeting communities who will not vote for the BJP and eliminating them from the voter-lists. And now, they have done a direct ‘Seat chori’ of a Rajya Sabha seat. Their planted Returning Officers have rejected the nomination of Ms. Meenakshi Natarajan on a blatantly false objection. The Election Commission stood by and did nothing. There is now not even the pretense of a free and fair election.

These are ominous signs of a desperate government that no longer believes it can win a fair contest and which is desperate to retain power by hook or by crook. These are dark times indeed for Indian democracy. It is now time for the people of India to rise and hit the streets and resist the BJP-RSS in every way possible.

Jai Congress. Jai Hind. Jai Jagat