World’s Largest Democracy? India’s 2024 Elections

Despite massive economic growth, 90 percent of Indians earn less than 10 dollars a day and economic inequality is rising.

In the midst of this, the popularity and mass appeal of Modi is only rising and he enjoys a wide acceptability across sections of the society. He has been able to use his charismatic appeal to achieve enormous popularity, also from the millions of Indians living in USA and Europe.

India is known as the world’s largest democracy and Modi is pushing a narrative of the country as the ‘Mother of Democracy’. However, The Economist and V-Dem have recently found traces of democratic backsliding, labelling it as an ‘Electoral Autocracy’.

There are concerns about shrinking spaces for liberal views and pressure on the secular ideals of the constitution. In a contest between different narratives, which one will emerge victorious and what will be the implications of such a victory on the future of India’s democracy?

A light breakfast will be served at Bergen Global. It is also possible to join through Zoom. The event is free and open to all.

Panel:

Kenneth Bo Nielsen is associate professor at Department of Social Anthropology, UiO. Land and environmental conflicts in India are central themes to his research, and he has also written about gender relations, Hindu nationalism, consumption, caste and class, India’s beef industry, democracy and citizenship, subaltern as well as dynastic politics, cars, farmers’ movements, and coal imports.

Sarthak Bagchi is an assistant professor at the School of Arts and Sciences, Ahmedabad University. He teaches courses on Democracy, Indian Political Processes and India's democratic transformation. His research is primarily focused on clientelism and patronage politics, comparative politics, Indian state politics, Populism, Informal Politics and Identity Politics.

Anwesha Dutta is a senior researcher at CMI. She is a political ecologist using ethnographic methods, focusing on environment, notably ecology approaches to forestry, wildlife conservation, resource extraction and governance.