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Congress MP Shashi Tharoor compared the current BJP-led NDA government places a “premium” on “charismatic leadership and heavily centralised governance”
Hosted by a prominent Indian university, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s public lecture was based on ‘India at 2047: The Future of the World’s Largest Democracy’. (Image: PTI/File)
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said India has undergone “paradigm shifts” in the last 78 years, particularly when it comes to foreign policy and politics due to change in regime.
Tharoor compared the BJP-led NDA government’s “far more muscular nationalism” to the “centrism, even left of centre” politics of the Congress. He said the present regime places a “premium” on “charismatic leadership and heavily centralised governance”.
“…of course a sharp rightward swing in our politics from the centrism, even left of centre politics of the Congress party to the far more muscular nationalism of the BJP, which places a premium on charismatic leadership and heavily centralised governance. Now, these were not merely changes, but paradigm shifts,” Tharoor said during a lecture at the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple in London, United Kingdom.
Hosted by a prominent Indian university, Tharoor’s public lecture was based on the theme – ‘India at 2047: The Future of the World’s Largest Democracy’.
He said India’s “democratic destiny” has undergone several transformations in the last 78 years – “from a feudal and caste-entrenched order to a modern egalitarian and rights-based republic”.
Talking about the transition of India’s economy over this period, the Congress leader said it has gone from “protectionist and state-controlled to liberalised, privatised and globalised”.
“A shift in our foreign policy from non-alignment during the Cold War to multi-alignment today as India engages strategically with an increasingly multipolar, immensely globalised and interdependent world…” he said about India’s evolving foreign policy.
Tharoor further said the massive changes, however, were easily absorbed by Indian society due to a “sprawling democratic setup, which affords, thankfully, great suspension”. He pointed to how changes at this scale have led to upheaval in other parts of the world.
“Elsewhere, these changes might have led to violent revolution. In India, democracy allowed them to play out constitutionally without…our opposing ideologies and streams of thought,” he added.
When it comes to the 2047 vision, he said, a lot still remains to be done. Invoking BR Ambedkar, he spoke about his warning in his last address to the Constituent Assembly.
“As Dr. Ambedkar warned us in his last address to the Constituent Assembly, mere political equality guaranteed by universal adult franchise is not enough unless it is augmented by social and economic equality. And the continued absence of social and economic equality…” he said.
Tharoor also spoke about how India has covered extensive ground in alleviating poverty, but he highlighted that 129 million Indians were still poor.
“…that millions in India still go without three square meals a day or lack a roof over their heads alongside such basic amenities as a steady supply of clean drinking water and electricity is a deplorable reality we cannot afford to ignore,” he said. “India’s democratic journey has been both remarkable and resilient, but it faces serious tests in the years ahead. Institutions matter, but the spirit behind those institutions matters even more.”
Tharoor spoke at a series of distinguished lectures and discourses held at University College and Somerville College in Oxford, as well as at the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple in London.
Oindrila Mukherjee is a senior sub-editor who works for the rewrite and breaking news desks. Her nine years of experience in print and digital journalism range from editing and reporting to writing impactful st…Read More
Oindrila Mukherjee is a senior sub-editor who works for the rewrite and breaking news desks. Her nine years of experience in print and digital journalism range from editing and reporting to writing impactful st… Read More
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London, United Kingdom (UK)
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