Is the BJP dangerous?

If the BJP were dangerous, they would have been voted out

Question: Is the BJP dangerous?
Position‹2 of 2: No, the Bharativa Janata Party (BJP) is not dangerous
Argument‹2 of 5›: If the BJP were dangerous, they would have been voted out

For the world’s largest democracy, BJP is not dangerous: if it is perceived as such it will be voted out at the next election.

The argument

With a population of 1.3 billion and an electorate of around 900 million in 2019, India is the world's largest democracy. For all its faults and flaws, this democratic system stands in marked contrast to the democratic failures of Pakistan and Bangladesh, which were part of India until 1947. That contrast is the foundation of the argument: where an electorate of that size retains the ability to remove a government, any party's power is conditional. The evidence that the mechanism works is that it has already operated against this government. In the year following the 2019 election, Modi's government lost several of the state elections. Proponents describe the reversal as unusually sharp — an "about-turn in just 12 months, from poll-sweeping leader worshipped by his supporters to publicly proclaimed hate-mongerer destroying the foundations of the Indian republic, was one of the most dramatic developments of 2019." A party that can sweep a national poll and then lose state contests within a year is plainly not one that has escaped accountability. Public opposition is similarly unconstrained. There are increasing protests against Modi's agenda, with banners decrying the links between Nazism and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindu nationalist organisation in which Modi once served as a full-time worker. That criticism of this kind is made openly and at scale is treated as further evidence that the political space remains genuinely contested. The democratic process ensures that the BJP, although an all-powerful national entity, does not hold a monopoly on India's political landscape. The Indian people are able to make their voices heard and if they believe the BJP is dangerous they will be voted out at the next election.

Premises

[P1]India is the world's largest democracy, with a robust electoral process unlike its neighbours. [P2] The BJP does not monopolise this system — Modi's government has lost state elections and faces growing protest. [P3] If voters believed the BJP were truly dangerous, the democratic process would let them vote it out. [C] Therefore, because it can be voted out, the BJP is not dangerous.

Counter-arguments

BJP-supported police crackdowns and organised Hindu right-wing mobilisation could threaten the democratic process.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Modi's regime could compromise democracy in India.