A Story of the Evolutionary History of the Indian Republic

Following the election results of June 4, 2024, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was able to form the government, albeit with reduced parliamentary strength. Given the election verdict, it may be argued that the challenges posed to the democratic institutions and India’s originary constitutional consensus have been, at least for the time being, overcome to an extent. In such a scenario Radha Kumar’s new book, The Republic Relearnt, becomes quite relevant. The book is divided into eight chapters. While each chapter is magisterial on its own account, together the eight chapters weave a fascinating story of the evolutionary history of the Indian Republic and the idea of democracy since Independence. Through in-depth discussions centred on three important episodes of renewal of democracy, the present study makes for an incisive and a sweeping historical analysis of India’s postcolonial democracy. The book notes that the years of decay of democracy far outnumbered the years of renewal. While the waves of democracy renewal covered only twenty-one and a half years, between 1964 and 2022, the years of decay added up to thirty-six and half years. Significantly, Kumar notes that of these thirty-six and half years, twelve years were of ‘authoritarian’ rule, which included the Emergency as well as the period between 2014 and 2024.