Democracy without safeguards

India is facing a considerable diminution of its soft power

The excitement over the tractor rally on the Republic Day, which commemorates the day India adopted its Constitution, overshadows the irony of this exercise. Organised by farmers protesting the three farm laws, it is an example of the many liberties the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has taken with the Constitution. The rapid passage of the three farm laws with almost no debate and consultation cannot be described as a process envisaged by the architects of the Constitution. Yet this modus operandi is characteristic of the government’s disregard for the guardrails instituted by the Constitution. It is notable that the