Since 2014, Modi government has attacked democracy in insidious ways. This attack has weakened institutional foundations of democracy in India. The government has subverted the bureaucracy, politicised the defence services, changed statistical models to suit itself.

It is a failed government, which has fooled people into believing that India has finally found its place under the sun. Grandiose schemes like the Bullet Train, even while the Railway system creaks and ordinary passengers suffer, smart cities and reckless public expenditure to build a personality cult around Prime Minister Narendra Modi are also aspects that need to be questioned.

This government must also go because of its criminal neglect of major public sector units. ONGC, a cash rich Navaratna company, has been milked by this government to bail out the Prime Minister’s pet company Gujarat Petroleum Development Corporation. Public Sector BSNL has been sacrificed at the altar of private telecom players, especially Reliance. Life Insurance Corporation has been forced to invest in companies in which ruling politicians have a stake. The plight of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and ordnance factories are also fairly well known.

So much so that employees of Air India, BSNL, etc. are finding it difficult to get their salary on time. How many more reasons must one cite to establish that Narendra Modi squandered a golden opportunity when the BJP became in 2014 the first political party in 30 years to secure a full majority in the Lok Sabha on its own?

He squandered his majority and he also squandered the opportunity provided by the sharp decline in price of international fuel prices between 2014 and 2017. This was the period when oil prices in the international market plunged from $140 a barrel to $35 a barrel. But in India, consumers continued to pay high prices for petroleum products.

The following are some of the reasons why voters must vote the Modi government out.

1. The Modi government for the first time has legitimised foreign funding and anonymous corporate donations to political parties in the form of electoral bonds.

2. The Modi regime has undermined institutions, subverted separation of powers and used executive power arbitrarily for sectarian and corrupt purposes.

3. It has diminished the legislative authority of Parliament, hidden information from parliamentary committees, and used Parliament as a platform for political abuse.

4. The use of CBI against political opponents, meddling in its functioning - including subverting its internal structure with the help of hand-picked officials is one of its infamous deeds.

5. It has lied to the judiciary, and interfered in judicial appointments with mala-fide intentions.

6. Governors appointed by it in states ruled by opposition parties have acted shamelessly as its agents.

7. The Cabinet system is in shambles, the principle of collective responsibility thrown to the winds. The PMO and a clutch of favoured officials and non-constitutional authorities such as the NSA have usurped power to take major decisions.