Democracy destroyed in India in 2014, alleges Rahul Gandhi

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that democracy in India “was destroyed in 2014” when the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power. He claimed that the infusion of large amounts of money into the political system had changed the electoral landscape and left the Opposition struggling to compete.

Speaking at the closing session of the Bharat Summit in Hyderabad, Gandhi said India was “no longer a democracy” and accused the ruling party of weakening democratic institutions.

The two-day summit was organised by the Congress-led Telangana government for discussions on democracy, social and economic justice, climate change, gender equality and foreign policy, among other subjects.

“In 2014, we witnessed a completely new election, something we've never seen before,” Gandhi said. “Millions and millions and millions of dollars injected into the political system.”

Gandhi said the Opposition had struggled to understand the changes in the electoral system and remained in shock for nearly a decade.

The Congress leader claimed that 14 crore people who had voted in the polls were subsequently declared either non-existent voters or non-voters.

“If the Election Commission has declared 140 million voters illegal non-voters, then how is that election possibly legitimate?” Gandhi asked.

The Congress MP also accused the BJP of benefiting from the growing overlap...

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