(Part 4)
The Dance of Democracy in Bihar
Indian politics has entered a strange phase where certain parties and their media allies are exposing themselves without realizing it. Each election removes another layer of illusion and forces more of the truth into public view. Yet they continue performing as if nothing has changed. The public can see every detail of the decline, while the performers on stage remain oblivious.
Media and Congress
Recent elections made this exposure impossible to deny. Bihar shattered the confidence they had in caste arithmetic. Maharashtra destroyed the belief that clever alliances can compensate for a collapsing base. Haryana had stripped away whatever remained of their political relevance. With each defeat, Congress stood more revealed and the media groups defending it stood revealed beside it. Both continue operating as if they still command the stage.
The trajectory of NDTV captures this decay perfectly. Years of losses, a complete change of ownership, and a mass migration of anchors to youtube revealed a simple truth. They were repeating a formula that no longer worked, not out of strategy but out of habit.
Ticket Selling
Congress behaves the same way. It continues selling tickets even while the practice empties the party from the inside. Neither group knows any other method of survival.
This is not a matter of intelligence. It is confinement. Selling nominations barely pays the bills for Congress. Access-driven journalism barely keeps media houses alive. Both institutions are in decline but remain locked inside the very systems that ensure their decline continues. They cling to methods that once provided security but now guarantee collapse.
The warning signs were visible in the fall of the BSP. Mayawati relied on wealthier candidates instead of loyal supporters, ignored repeated signals of collapse, and watched her party shrink from a national presence to political irrelevance. Congress saw every step of this decline and proceeded to imitate it. The media documented BSP’s downfall while continuing the very practices that would doom them as well.
RJD was also selling tickets. Madan Sahoo exposed it. Thereafter the Lalu family went into infighting, perhaps over the collections made from ticket sales. See here for details.
The public, however, sees everything. It observes every scandal, every broken promise, every manipulated report, every nomination that went to the highest bidder. Voters are not fooled. They simply respond quietly through elections. Each vote removes another layer of the old narrative. The decline is slow, deliberate, and painless for the public. It is devastating only for those refusing to adapt.
Collusion of Media
Over time, Congress lost its voters, then its credibility, and finally its importance. The media followed a similar decline, first losing readers, then viewers, and eventually any claim to trustworthiness. What remains is a shrinking circle of insiders who rely on each other for relevance. They persist in their performance, convinced an audience is still watching.
They cannot change for a fundamental reason. Congress does not know how to finance itself without selling nominations. The media does not know how to operate without privileged access to power. Both built their entire institutional culture on practices that are now outdated and harmful. To change would require admitting that their foundational assumptions were wrong. They are not ready for that admission, so they repeat the only routines they understand.
The Cabaret to Stripping
A group of performers continues a routine long after the music has stopped. Performers are losing their costumes one by one. The audience can see what is happening but the dancers cannot. They believe they are still in costume while the crowd sees only exposure. The performance becomes unintentionally comic, then tragic, then irrelevant.
Meanwhile, the public responds with patience. There is no outrage left, only quiet judgment. People simply vote, again and again, and with each election they remove a little more of the old order. They dismantle the system without slogans or protests. The ballot delivers its verdict in silence.
The final act has already begun. BSP finished its performance and left an empty stage behind. Congress is nearing the end of its routine, accompanied by media outlets that decline alongside it. Both stand uncovered before a shrinking audience. Their downfall will not arrive with noise but with quiet abandonment.
Democracy has revealed what they refused to acknowledge. Those who relied on manipulation assumed the public would not notice. Those who relied on access assumed their roles would never be questioned. Voters exposed both assumptions as fantasies. Institutions that seemed permanent turned out to be fragile.
The public has already found alternatives. They have chosen their media. They will prefer leaders who deliver, programs that materialize, and governance they can measure. Tangible outcomes matter more than familiar rhetoric. The old performers continue their routine, unaware that the hall is nearly empty.
That is the true dance of democracy. Voters peel away illusions until the truth stands in full view. By the time the performers realize they are exposed, the audience has already walked out and moved on.