Anyone who still has even the slightest faith in India’s fast-eroding democracy, should be alarmed at the manner in which the winter session of the Parliament, held between December 1 and 19, 2025, unfolded. Besides being one of the shortest sessions, the methods deployed by the Modi Government, as well as the role played by the Opposition, most notably the Congress, tantamount to a great subversion of the Parliamentary process, procedures, rules for conducting business, and above all democracy.
In the 2025 winter session, when some of the most decisive laws that will reshape the soul and future of the nation were being bulldozed through, not once did Prime Minister Narendra Modi step into the House. Not once did the Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, bothered to intervene in the House of The People.
When the three laws— Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha (Amendment of Insurance Laws) Bill, 2025, Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act, 2025, and Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB—G RAM G) Bill, 2025—with far-reaching consequences, which will determine the fate of 140 crore plus Indians, were being rammed through, both the head of the Government and the head of the Opposition were conspicuous by their absence. It was silence at best, complicity at worst.
The absence of thoughtful deliberations, the refusal of the Modi Government to submit the Bills for proper vetting by relevant Parliamentary committees, the tearing hurry to get the laws passed, the use of voice vote instead of recording divisions, etc., point only in one direction—a repulsive subversion of the Constitutional process. One doesn’t need to break the Constitutional system, subversion is equally effective.
Make no mistake: this country is being deliberately and openly handed over to new despotic forces of economic neoliberalism—corporate power without accountability, capital without conscience. And the irony is that the BJP and the Congress are not fighting this hostile takeover; they are rather colluding in the project.
The synchronised absence of both leaders may or may not be accidental. But the message is clear: the Parliament does not matter. That MPs are ornamental. That elections are a ritual without substance. That the people are irrelevant. This is not neglect; this is contempt for the Parliament, for democracy, and for citizens, who believed their vote meant a social contract with the State.
A ruthless storm of naked capitalism is tearing through the country, stripping citizens of rights, dignity, and security. And we are being told to bow our heads, fold our hands, and accept our fate. So, when the Prime Minister vanishes, the Opposition abdicates it responsibility, and the Parliament is reduced to a rubber stamp, where does a citizen go for expecting even a semblance of governance? Who will protect your rights?
This is not democracy. This is capture. This is surrender. The people are trapped. And the great plunder of democracy continues unabated.
