Regressing Republic

India has fallen into a moral and intellectual stupor in the last 11 years

- Anand Teltumbde

IT is now widely acknowledged—even by the more circumspect observers of Indian politics—that the eleven years of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s rule (2014-2025) have inflicted deep and enduring damage on the country. While much has been said about institutional erosion and economic decline, the more devastating legacy may lie in the profound social regression this regime has unleashed: the descent of India into a moral and intellectual stupor, marked by communal intoxication, political irrationality, and ethical numbness.

India’s public sphere, once chaotic but plural and energetic, now appears zombified—drained of democratic vitality, critical thought, and civic empathy. This transformation has not happened by accident.

It reflects the ideological foundation of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), from which the current government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi draws its worldview—a supremacist ecosystem built on myth, historical grievance, and hostility to reason.

Modi’s quip that “hard work is better than Harvard” was no throwaway line; it encapsulates the disdain for expert knowledge and institutional balance that has characterised his tenure. His cabinet was reduced to an echo chamber of yes-men, enabling his unchallenged, often whimsical policymaking.

Reckless Financial Adventures

The BJP government's economic record, despite glossy optics, reveals a trail of policy disasters and deepening inequality. Demonetisation in 2016, justified as a strike against black money, ended up wiping out small enterprises, destroying over 1.5 million jobs, and reducing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth by up to 2 per cent with nearly all currency returning to the system. The informal sector, where 82 per cent of India’s workforce resides, was hit hardest, with income and employment collapsing in its aftermath.