India, undoubtedly, is one of the largest democracies in the world. And, in terms of free and fair elections at all levels, India may be way ahead of other democratic giants. Central elections, state elections, district level, city level, you name it, we have them. On top of it, the trade unions have their own shows. And of course, elections for various positions held by taxi drivers, autorickshaw wallahs and so on.

But the age-old definition: “by the people, of the people, for the people” would not be accepted in toto. Much water has flowed under the bridge since India attained independence and gone are the days when even a child could tell you the name of all political parties that existed.

Now it has narrowed down to, “by this caste or that caste, of this caste or that caste and for this caste or that caste”. It is no longer for the people of India as such. Even the classification of people as rich, middle-class or poor is no longer accepted. The general view is that if one belongs to the so-called forward caste, they have to fight it out no matter how rich or poor they are. For the rest, there are so many benefits from the government’s side. And to make sure that they get these benefits continuously they have their own parties. One of their hobbies is to force the government to get loans for various purposes. Then they will hold demonstrations to force the government to write-off these loans. What these people fail to understand is that the dependence on countless concessions and reservations will rob the individuals of their self confidence or the will to come up in life on their own.