Constitutional values under assault: Sonia

Power has become concentrated in a handful of politicians and businesspersons, which is undermining India’s democracy and institutions, says Congress leader

In an attack on the Narendra Modi government, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday said that power has become intensely concentrated over the past eight years in a handful of politicians and businesspersons, which is undermining India’s democracy and institutions.

She said that constitutional values and principles are under assault, with bonds of social harmony being deliberately stretched to a breaking point in order to keep voters polarised for electoral gains.

In an op-ed piece in the Hindustan Times, the Congress chief said that all too frequently, previously independent authorities have been reduced to “tools of the executive”, ready to do its bidding in a partisan and heavy-handed way.

“As a result, election outcomes are being subverted by money power sustained by electoral bonds and cronyism. State agencies turn on any political party that opposes the current dispensation,” she said.

Gandhi’s article comes amid the Congress’ ambitious Kanyakumari to Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra. Rahul Gandhi, along with several top leaders of the party, began the yatra from Kanyakumari last week and after traversing Tamil Nadu, it is now passing through Kerala.

Gandhi said in the opinion piece that painstakingly built public enterprises, which are held in common by all citizens, are being hollowed out and sold to one or two private bidders.

“Under the United Progressive Alliance, we understood that it was important to make sure that resources and opportunities flowed to all citizens in a time of rapid growth and rising inequality,” she said.

Gandhi said the UPA government invested in health and education and initiatives

such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, the Food Security Act and Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAS) as well as the Right to Information Act and Aadhaar, improved welfare effectiveness and lifted tens of millions out of poverty.

While elites and then opposition parties ridiculed these measures, they have been a lifeline during the pandemic and times of economic distress, she opined.

This framework, which sustained India for many decades, is now under direct attack and inequality has never been higher in independent India, Gandhi said.

“The independence of our institutions is being eroded and their role as balancers of the competing demands and aspirations of a wide range of social groups is being intentionally undermined,” she said.

Gandhi claimed that authoritarian tendencies are

becoming clearer, with the erosion of fundamental rights being accompanied by a narrow imposition of conformity and obedience from dutiful citizens.

“Weaker sections, minorities, women and civil society are under constant attack,

supported by significant sections of the media. Parliament is not being allowed to function, forcing discontent to spill onto the streets,” she said. “This dangerous cocktail will only weaken our national fabric and create openings for India’s internal and external enemies,” Gandhi added.

If democracy is to triumph over oligarchy, Gandhi said, people must come together and resist these “powerful forces”.