In recent years, democracy research institutes have been categorising India as a ‘partly free’ democracy, with the V-Dem Institute of the University of Gothenburg classifying India as an “electoral autocracy” from as far back as 2019.

For India’s Opposition parties, will the business-as-usual electoral politics suffice in an ‘electoral autocracy’, especially when they can go longer count on a level playing field?

Political scientist, psephologist, activist, politician and columnist Yogendra Yadav has been arguing that the transition of Indian democracy from “competitive authoritarianism” to “electoral autocracy” requires the Opposition to reimagine politics, and to switch from a politics of electoral contestation to a “politics of resistance”. But what does this mean in practical terms, and are India’s Opposition parties ready for it?

Host: G Sampath

Producer and editor: Jude Weston

Recorded by : Jude Weston and Saif Ali Ekram

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