Just a few weeks before this year’s Lok Sabha election, amidst the capital’s vibrant pre-election fervor, a discussion session for my newly released book took place at the India International Centre. With esteemed panelists and a captivated audience in attendance, I shared an anecdote that captured everyone’s attention.

The story goes like this. Morarji Desai, who served as the fourth Prime Minister of India (from 1977 to 1979), led the government formed by the Janata Party. He was a fierce nationalist with strong anti-corruption leanings. Shortly after becoming Prime Minister, he gave an interview to a foreign correspondent. When asked how India would progress despite facing many challenges, particularly illiteracy, PM Desai responded that the people of India are not devoid of knowledge.

He explained that while they may be illiterate, they understand the facts of life better than literate people in Western countries and possess innate intelligence. Based on this story, I submitted that if the observation made by the late Desai, whose long and varied experience in public life stood him in good stead, were true, then why do we find dubious, unscrupulous, and corrupt politicians continuing to win elections 45 years later? People across society have been worried as this trend continues unabated, leading to the utter disappointment of many and impacting the quality of democracy. To this, Ambassador K.P. Fabian, who was chairing the session, mentioned that India is known for its ‘selfcorrecting democracy’. He emphasized that the country’s democracy cannot be easily imperiled, given India’s constitutional and civilizational ‘Idea of India,’ which is predicated on inclusivity rather than exclusion. The mandate of the 2024 Parliamentary election, if taken as a report card for the world’s largest democracy, highlights the significance of Ambassador Fabian’s comment made several weeks ago. His observation has proven to be significant and striking, although only to some extent. Why do I say this? Let me explain from two perspectives.

First, India, being an incredibly diverse nation with numerous regional variations, religions, and languages, has traversed a long and arduous road to democracy. Despite facing a host of challenges, the country has managed to uphold its democratic values, making the 2024 electoral outcome no less remarkable. However, the primary challenge remains the fragility of key democratic institutions, which are often undermined by a climate of shrewd politics. While the electoral process has been largely resilient and reflective of the people’s will, the continued success of dubious politicians underscores systemic issues that still need addressing.

This duality – of a robust electoral process on one hand and the persistent influence of corruption and political manipulation on the otherreveals both the strengths and weaknesses of India’s democracy. Incidentally, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, 1,643 out of 8,337 candidates (20 per cent) have declared criminal cases against themselves. Comparatively, in the 2019, 2014, and 2009 elections, the numbers were 1,500 out of 7,928 (19 per cent), 1,404 out of 8,205 (17 per cent), and 1,158 out of 7,810 (15 per cent), respectively.

Professor Ashutosh Varshney, Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and Social Sciences, and Professor of Political Science at Brown University, USA, argues that since 1947, India has excelled as an electoral democracy but has faced greater challenges as a liberal democracy. Be that as it may, it’s undeniable that the country’s politics has grown uglier, nastier, and messier over time. However, despite these challenges, the electorate in this year’s parliamentary election has demonstrated how democracy can rebuke political elites, silently assert their rights, curb the concentration of power, and influence the future direction of the country.

Despite the pervasive impression created strategically through a large section of the media, facilitated by a high-pitched election campaign, heavily funded advertisements, and propaganda, the electorate demonstrated a ‘self-correcting democracy’ by not succumbing to BJP’s extensive and expensive campaign. However, despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s developmental measures potentially easing certain aspects of life, the 10-year National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has notably failed to improve livelihoods for a substantial segment of society. Nevertheless, kudos to the people of this country for demonstrating the power of the country’s ‘self-correcting democracy,’ turning what was predicted to be a landslide victory for the BJP into a narrow, underwhelming one. The second paradox specific to West Bengal revolves around its political evolution and the contrasting outcomes under different regimes.

Illustrating ‘self-correcting democracy,’ the people of West Bengal brought in a Left Front government that ousted the Emergency-tainted Congress Party. However, during the 34 uninterrupted years of Left rule (1977–2011), healthcare and education deteriorated, corruption flourished, and political violence became endemic. Eventually, the electorate opted for a change, giving an opportunity to the Trinamul Congress (TMC). In this year’s parliamentary election, it appears that people largely opted for the TMC which registered a massive victory by winning 29 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats. This outcome occurred despite the scale of corruption in the TMC rule reaching unprecedented levels. Apparently, the TMC’s “pro-people policies,” which mitigate the effects of scandals in the public mind, greatly contributed to the decisive mandate against the BJP, the main opposition.

Put differently, TMC misrule and grave state-specific issues had limited impact on constraining the scope of ‘self-correcting democracy,’ primarily due to the absence of a credible alternative in the state. Finally, the 2024 parliamentary election has culminated in a remarkable electoral outcome for the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) at the Centre, marking a pivotal moment for democracy. There is a renewed sense of optimism and an opportunity to reclaim a credible opposition space that was lost.

For the NDA government, led by Prime Minister Modi, embarking on a third term, this election presents the right opportunity to move away from the religionisation of politics, pursue the right initiatives, address the right set of challenges, and do so in the right manner. Let the course correction take place as silently as the voters exercised their franchise this time around, signaling the eternal truth: no wrong goes unpunished – where political pomp, authoritarianism, and aggressiveness offer no rescue.

(The writer is the author of ‘Whispers of an ordinary journey’ and a former General Manager of the International Centre, Goa.)