Congress targets Modi government over India slipping in global democracy index

Congress on Thursday targeted BJP-led government over India slipping to 51st position in a 2019 global democracy index ranking and said it had hurt and caused "deep pain" to every proud Indian.

Briefing the media here, Singhvi said India is the world's proudest democracy, certainly the world's largest democracy, "certainly something of which each Indian is terribly-terribly proud."

He said 30 to 60 countries which emerged from imperialism between the 1930s and the 1960s, there is not a single country which has remained a vibrant, diverse democracy like India and certainly no one of the size and the complexity of India.

"It is in this context that it is but natural without a doubt that every proud Indian will feel hurt and pained deeply when he finds that in a democracy index we have declined 10 straight points - from the 41st nation, we have become the 51st," he said.

"It is the first time since 2006 when we have declined to this figure. Since the index started in 2006, it has never been as low as 51 for India," he added.

Singhvi alleged there was palpable fear in the country and accused the BJP-led government of intolerance and vendetta politics.

"This is a red-flag which should remind us every minute of our existence that Diminishing democracy is what we have to be eternally vigilant against. This is our proud heritage, it is our proudest possession. We can't allow it to dilute or diminish," he said.

( With inputs from ANI )