Newly-elected Prime Minister Modi in November 2014. Flickr/ Owen Young. Some rights reserved.
In the history of democracy in India, the Bihar state assembly elections will be recorded as a major turning point. The voters rebuffed the Indian Prime Minister’s party that unleashed a divisive poll campaign to consolidate the Hindu voters in its favour. The voters gave a stunning victory to a coalition of secular parties with socialistic leanings and a commitment to social justice. One public intellectual, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, sees this victory as a “potentially regenerative moment for Indian democracy”.
The regional elections came in a season of hate-mongering and the rejection of religious polarisation brought relief to millions of Indians across the nation. They feel perturbed by the rise in the levels of intolerance and by the rampaging bands of provocateurs inciting religious passions and violence.
