India ranks 106th on V-Dem electoral democracy index: P Chidambaram flags lowest score since 1975

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP P Chidambaram on Tuesday highlighted India's 106th position among 179 nations on the Electoral Democracy Index by V-Dem, noting that it represents the country's lowest index rating since 1975.

"Without comment: India ranks 106th among 179 countries on the Electoral Democracy Index. V-Dem's democracy index score for India is at its lowest since 1975," Chidambaram posted on X.

The Congress party has repeatedly targeted the government over democratic standards, with the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, accusing the government of "vote chori" (vote theft) on multiple occasions.

V-Dem assigned India a score of 0.38 for the year 2025 on the Electoral Democracy Index, placing the nation 106th globally. On the Liberal Democracy Index, India was positioned 105th with a score of 0.26.

V-Dem employs Population-Weighted Measures to illustrate the statistical level of democracy experienced by the average global citizen. It utilises national averages to assign equal weight to developments in smaller countries such as the Seychelles or Timor-Leste as it does to larger nations like India or the United States.

The research organisation has classified India under the electoral autocracy category.

Across South and Central Asia, the report stated that only 2 per cent of the population experiences electoral democracy, located in Nepal and Sri Lanka, whilst a tiny fraction resides in three "grey zone" democracies, namely Bhutan, Mongolia, and the Maldives. It grouped India alongside Kazakhstan and Pakistan as electoral autocracies, whilst categorising Afghanistan and Turkmenistan as closed autocracies.

Regarding India, V-Dem contends that a gradual shift toward autocracy has been underway since 2009, asserting that a "systematic dismantling of democratic institutions" has taken place. The institute cited the decline in freedom of expression, reduced media independence, harassment of journalists critical of the state, and pressure on civil society and political opponents as primary factors driving the lower rating.

The V-Dem Institute is directed by Associate Professor Steven Wilson and operates out of the Department of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.

ANI