Sixty-nine candidates elected unopposed!

Just like that. No ballot papers warmed by human fingers. No queues outside schools. No indelible ink on proud index fingers. Democracy, apparently, decided to take the day off.

In the Maharashtra municipal elections, 68 of those unopposed seats quietly slipped into the ruling party's pocket because opposition candidates withdrew. "Withdrew" is such a polite word. But election withdrawals usually come with pressure, persuasion, fear, inducement or a polite knock that is anything but polite.

One wonders what exactly is happening to democracy in India. This sort of thing is common in banana republics and authoritarian regimes; the kind we used to shake our heads at while watching foreign news bulletins.

The kind where election results are known before the polling booths are even unlocked. The kind where leaders win with 99 per cent of the vote.

Ironically, these are also the very countries, like Russia and China, our nation seems eager to befriend today.

Perhaps we admire their efficiency. No messy debates. No inconvenient Opposition. No voters with opinions. Everything is neat, silent and obedient as opposing candidates are either coerced to withdraw, kidnapped or shot dead.

But let us be clear. In these, our own sixty-nine wards, there will be no choice and no voice.

The vote has been quietly removed.

When you take away the vote, you do not just cancel an election. You cancel accountability.

You cancel fear in the minds of those in power.

And when leaders stop fearing the people, the people start fearing the leaders.

You may argue that these are local body elections and not Parliament. That is like saying a crack in the foundation is fine because the roof has not collapsed yet. Democracy does not erode in one dramatic moment. It is chipped away slowly. First at the municipal level. Then at the state. Then one day at the national level, when people finally realise the blindfold has been tied so tightly, they cannot see the ballot box anymore.

In countries that conduct make-believe elections, people still go through the motions. They line up. They press buttons. They dip fingers in ink. But everyone knows the outcome was decided elsewhere. The ritual remains. The meaning is gone.

The real tragedy is not that sixty-nine candidates were elected unopposed.

The tragedy is that you will shrug and say, What can we do?

That sentence is democracy's obituary notice.

The power of the vote is not a gift given by leaders. It is a right won through struggle, sacrifice and blood. When you allow it to be taken away quietly, politely and unopposed, don't be surprised when your voice disappears too.

The question is not whether democracy is being weakened. The question is whether you people will remove your blindfolds in time.

Because once the habit of unopposed power sets in, it rarely stops at sixty-nine...