By Maryam Guerrab
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Abstract
In June 2024, India, the world’s largest democracy, re-appointed Narendra Modi as Prime Minister for his third consecutive five-year term. Modi, the 74-year old career-politician and long-time leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was first instituted as prime minister in 2014 after the BJP won the majority of the seats in the Lok Sabha, India’s Lower House of Parliament1 . Modi succeeded former prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in a peaceful transition of power and assumed a state that experienced relative democratic stability2 . Upon assuming office, Modi promised economic and infrastructural reform. His term as prime minister has ushered in an era of democratic backsliding; Modi has transformed India to a competitive authoritarian regime.3 This paper will reveal how Modi has contained the three areas of democratic vulnerability – the legislature, elections, and mass mobilization – that threaten the stability of his regime. The regime’s ability to endure despite these threats suggests its foreseeable longevity.
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