India, WE, THE PEOPLE, have risen. The autocrat has fallen! We elected an opposition, strong and empowered - a crucial and essential pillar of democracy. We have elected a government whose governance shall now be based on consensus and not on the fancies of an autocrat, based on shared power and not on power concentrated in one hand. In electing a strong opposition and a government that has to function on consensus, the country has displayed a profound understanding of democracy. Overthrowing a regime in anger is one thing. However, it does not necessarily restore democratic and constitutional principles. Instead, in a display of profound wisdom, the country has voted to restore the democratic and constitutional principles.

The General Elections of 2024 transcended the mere question of which party or alliance should govern India; they were fundamentally about the nation's soul and the constitutional vision of India. The electorate decisively rejected the Modi regime's fascist, corporate-driven, autocratic governance. The politics of polarisation, populism, and post-truth, tools used by modern autocrats to maintain power, were exposed and repudiated. Amid a narrowing socio-economic and political landscape, the election presented a stark choice: uphold the constitutional principles of egalitarian democracy or embrace the Hindutva-driven vision of India as a Hindu Rashtra. For years, the nation's security, unity, and well-being were threatened by the imposition of a fascist ideology, which sought to replace the democratic spirit enshrined in the Constitution.

The victory of 'we the people' is unique, significant and huge. We must celebrate it! Defeating the incumbent fascist regime had been next to impossibility. The impact of the autocratic and fascist regime under Shri Narendra Modi had probably not been felt by the country, as India is a large country, as much as that by the other countries with autocratic governance. However, the undeclared autocracy growing in India at an increasing pace and also under cover of democracy had been one of the most powerful autocracies in the modern world, with nearly complete control over all the democratic and constitutional institutions, including the media. I cannot think of another country other than India, which has overthrown an autocracy through a democratic election. We as a nation have done 'the impossible'! Through the electoral process, autocracy was smashed, and democracy was restored!

Through this election, we, the people, have elected an empowered opposition, no matter which party or alliance forms the government. Democracy, in our times, is not about electing a ruling party or alliance; it is more about electing an empowered and strong opposition. By electing an empowered and strong opposition, we, the people, have restored governance of this country based on democratic principles and those values we, the people, have accepted as defining us as a nation.

The people in whom rests the power to elect a regime in a democracy can just sleepwalk into an autocracy. In his book, 'The Revenge of Power, ' Moises Naim elaborately and analytically discusses how autocrats of the modern world have reinvented autocracies through the effective use of politics of Polarisation, Populism and Post-Truth. It was possible, like in many other countries, for 'we the people' to fail to recognise the autocracy taking hold of the soul of our country and their techniques to produce manufactured opinions and create false consciousness in support of the autocracy. We, the people in India, recognised this early enough and made compromises on our own self-interest for a larger cause of upholding, protecting and strengthening the constitutional democracy in the country. These achievements, quite unparalleled in the world, should be hailed. The democratic roots of our country, especially protected by the ordinary citizens of this country, stand out for praise.

India is a Republic in which the People (the 'public') are Sovereign. 'We the People' gave 'Ourselves' the Constitution. Some of its key elements are Democracy, Equality, Fraternity, Unity and Diversity, comprehensive Justice, Socialism and Secularism. The Constitution of India and the values enshrined in it are formed not by the movement for Independence alone, as often, deliberately and conveniently considered it to be, but also by multiple social movements in the country for social equality led by India's tallest leaders / spiritual gurus, namely, Shiromani Sant Ravi Das, Shri Narayana Guru, Mahatma, Jyotirao Phule, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar to mention a few. It is, therefore, those who discerned, exposed, and rejected the designs of autocracy in the country, who have also been by the poor whose aspirations for dignity, equality, and justice are enshrined in the Constitution.

Looking at the journey of our country since Independence, there is no doubt that it is the democratic nature of governance of the country and the ideals contained in the Preamble to the Constitution that best serve the well-being of the people of the country in general and of the poor in particular. More than the efficiency of any elected government, these foundations of the country account for the spectacular development of our country on all fronts. The socio-economic and political upward mobility, although only partially achieved by those at the bottom, is because of democracy and the egalitarian principles of the Constitution. There is no other model of governance than democracy and no other idea of India than the constitutional idea of India that can ensure the well-being of all the people in the country.

The truth of India is that she is a diversity. Diversity in culture, language, origin, religion, and so forth is the heart of what we today call India. Unity is the consensus we, the people from the diversities, have agreed in our freedom struggle and movements for social equality. It is not that unity gives concession for diversities; rather, it is the diversities that accommodate unity for the well-being of all in this country. This consensus is central to our republic. This fundamental truth of our country confirms that there is no other way that India can be governed as a unity other than respecting the consensus that 'we the people' – the diversities - had arrived at in the process of becoming a democratic republic: that is one of constitutional democracy as enshrined in the Constitution.

The people of India have affirmed once again that she should remain committed to this consensus and work towards a greater expansion of democracy, secularism, fellowship and egalitarian principles.

Through this election, the people have restored all these values. We do not have Mahatma Gandhi and Dr Ambedkar today. But we have leaders who live the values that these great personalities have given us in constituting us, the people, into a nation. Above all, we are a great people: We have defeated autocracy; we have effectively restored our democracy and our very SOUL.