Journalist Rajdeep Sardesai says it is hazardous to predict the future in India

The way politics is getting structured around ‘superman’ or ‘superwoman’ though ours is a Parliamentary system, rise in recession among democratic institutions and other trends were explained by senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai during his talk on ‘What does the future hold in a Modi-fied India?’ organised by Manthan on Sunday.

Listing out changes observed in the past three months in politics and political parties including Shiv Sena realising that it is a mistake to mix politics with religion, he said it is hazardous to predict future in India. However, Mr Sardesai explained 10 trends he has spotted.

Addressing over 100 people, who had gathered to attend the talk, he said that Indians are no longer voting for values, but for individuals. Elections are about people hankering for one strongman or strongwoman who will solve their problems. Example of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Central level, and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao at State level were cited to drive home the point.

“Candidates are mattering less and less, and we are slowly becoming elected autocracy wherein the individual matters much more than any institution. And this may be a trend across the world,” Mr Sardesai said, adding that money and media are used as weapons in the process.

Speaking about the second trend which is about recession in democratic institutions in the country, he said that Parliament has become a notice board. Stating that debates were invited after bringing in Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), he said democracy demands the opposite which is holding dialogue, consultation, and deciding course of action.

Citing another institution to explain the trend, he said that Delhi Police has named nine individuals in connection with the recent violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, using various videos circulated by Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP). “It is as if violence does not involve ABVP but involves the Left. So, police become the extension of State. This is the Gujarat model. Long before JNU, there was MS University. Between 2002 and 2010, there were several instances of VHP walking into MS University and resorting to violence. Nobody was prosecuted at end of the day.” he said.