India secretly works to preserve reputation after ‘flawed democracy’ rating

Exclusive: Democracy Index downgrades country amid backsliding under nationalist rule of Narendra Modi

The Indian government has been secretly working to keep its reputation as the world's largest democracy" alive after being called out by researchers for serious democratic backsliding under the nationalist rule of Narendra Modi, according to internal reports seen by the Guardian.

Despite publicly dismissing several global rankings that suggest the country is on a dangerous downward trajectory, officials from government ministries have been quietly assigned to monitor India's performance, minutes from meetings show.