Democracy in India
is considered to be the world's most populous democracy. Elections in the country started with the 1951–52 Indian general election. India was among the first post-colonial nations to adopt universal adult suffrage, granting all adult citizens equal voting rights.
In recent years, under the premiership of Narendra Modi, India has experienced significant democratic backsliding. The Economist Democracy Index classifies India as a flawed democracy. The Freedom House classifies India as partly free.
History
Pre-modern history
Early Shakyas, Koliyas, Mallakas, and Licchavis are recorded as having assemblies that were accessible to affluent men of certain social classes. Other Sangha |s and gana|s had councils of unelected nobles; these bodies did not conform to modern standards of democracy and functioned more similarly to elite oligarchic councils. The Greek historian Diodorus, writing approximately two centuries after the time of Alexander the Great, refers to democratic states in India. However, there is a lack of evidence for electoral processes, and the term "democracy" in the 3rd century BCE may have referred more broadly to autonomous polities rather than representative governance. In the 10th century CE, inscriptions at the Vaikunda Perumal Temple suggest the election of local representatives to village councils during the Chola Empire.Independence from colonial rule
Following nearly two centuries of British colonial rule—initially under the East India Company and later under direct governance by the British Crown—India gained independence in 1947 after a sustained nationalist anti-colonial movement. This movement was predominantly led by the Indian National Congress and prominent figures such as Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. However, the movement was also shaped by a diverse range of ideological influences, including communism, Dalit leaders, and to a lesser extent, Hindutva, a far-right hindu nationalist ideology, though the latter's participation is debated. Prominent figures associated with these currents included B. R. Ambedkar, a leading advocate for the abolition of the caste system, and Subhas Chandra Bose, a militant nationalist leader, allied with the Axis Powers in World War II. The independence process was marred by a surge of religious and communal divisions, culminating in a bloody partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. This division created two separate nations: Pakistan with a Muslim majority, and India with a Hindu majority. The partition was characterised by widespread violence, mass displacement, and one of the largest refugee crises in history. India formally became a sovereign, democratic republic in 1950 with the adoption of the world's longest written constitution. The constitution was drafted by a Constituent Assembly, chaired by Ambedkar. The country held its first general election between late 1951 and early 1952, implementing universal adult suffrage, and drawing heavy inspiration from the Westminster parliamentary system. The Congress secured a decisive electoral victory and Nehru was elected as the first prime minister of the country. This established India as the world's largest liberal democracy.Nehruvian era
After independence, the Congress emerged as India's dominant political party. The reorganization of Indian states in 1956 along linguistic lines—transforming the colonial-era presidencies and provinces and fully integrating over 500 princely states—both responded to and further fueled the rise of notable regional movements. Congress secured a decisive victory in the 1957 general election. Notably, 1957 also witnessed a landmark development in the state of Kerala, where the Communist Party of India, under the leadership of E. M. S. Namboodiripad, formed the government—marking one of the first democratically elected communist governments in the world. The Congress maintained its political dominance by winning the 1962 general election in another landslide. Nehru remains the longest-serving holder of the office of the prime minister, having led the country for sixteen years. Nehru's premiership embraced republicanism, secularism, social democracy, and a policy of non-alignment during the Cold War. The caste system persisted, despite the constitutional abolition of caste-based discrimination. At the same time, the Congress developed into an increasingly clientelist organisation. Socialist government regulations expanded significantly in what became known as the Licence Raj. However, these regulations often favoured established industrialists and large corporations, while disadvantaging small businesses, thereby contributing to the consolidation of capitalism. Nehru's leadership is considered to have failed in satisfying the urban and rural poor, the unemployed, and the Hindu nationalists and fundamentalists. Nehru died in 1964 and was succeeded as prime minister by Lal Bahadur Shastri. Shastri's untimely death just two years later, in 1966, led to his succession by Nehru's daughter, Indira Gandhi, India's first and only female prime minister. Nehru is often regarded as the architect of modern India.Indira Gandhi and the Emergency
In response to a decline in support for Congress in the 1967 general election, Indira Gandhi embraced an increasingly populist platform. This led to opposition from the party's right-wing, ultimately causing Congress to split in 1969 into the conservative and anti-socialist Congress, and the Gandhi-led socialist Congress. Gandhi's Congress won a landslide victory in the 1971 general election. She is credited to have centralised power, and her political base has been described as a cult of personality. Though many praised her for her state socialism and protectionism, others criticised her alleged Machiavellianism and perceived insincerity regarding her socialist stance.Meanwhile, in 1967, an armed peasant revolt erupted in the village of Naxalbari in the state of West Bengal, led by tribals and radical Maoist-inspired communists. This event, known as the Naxalbari uprising, marked the inception of the Naxalite–Maoist insurgency—a protracted conflict that has persisted for decades.
Rising economic turmoil led to an increase in civil unrest. Gandhi's increasing control over the judiciary, alongside undermining and bypassing of court rulings, sparked multiple constitutional crises. In 1974, a wave of student-led protests in the state of Bihar, initially sparked by inflation, unemployment, and corruption, rapidly escalated into a broader movement of mass resistance, demanding systemic transformation and directly challenging Gandhi's authority. Known as the Bihar Movement, it was led by socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan, who called for a "total revolution". On 12 June 1975, the Allahabad High Court found Gandhi guilty of electoral malpractice in the Raj Narain verdict. In the face of massive political opposition, disorder, and dissent across the country, Gandhi enacted a state of emergency. The Emergency began on 25 June 1975 and saw unprecedented nationwide censorship, mass arrests of dissenters and political opponents, widespread forced sterilisation, the suspension of the constitution, the nullification of fundamental rights, and a dictatorial centralisation of power. In 1977, Gandhi called for fresh elections, which resulted in a historic landslide victory for the Janata Party, a broad anti-Congress coalition. Janata Party leader Morarji Desai subsequently became the country's first non-Congress prime minister.