Power down Voters slam the brakes on Modi's bulldozer

It was widely described as the week India's beleaguered democracy was pulled back from the brink.

- Hannah Ellis-Petersen

As the election results rolled in last Tuesday, all predictions and polls were defied as Narendra Modi lost his outright majority for the first time in a decade, while the opposition re-emerged as a legitimate political force. Last Sunday Modi was sworn in as prime minister but many believe his power and mandate are diminished.

For one opposition politician in particular, the humbling of the prime minister was a moment to savour. Late last year, Mahua Moitra, one of the most outspoken critics of Modi and his Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), was expelled from parliament and kicked out of her home after what she described as a "political witch-hunt".

The murky circumstances of Moitra's expulsion from parliament were seen by many to symbolise Modi's approach to dissenting voices and the steady erosion of India's democracy. She was among several opposition politicians who were subjected to investigations by government crime agencies.