The communists have long been the ideological anchors of the Congress, from Nehru to Rahul Gandhi. Knowing that their limited electoral appeal would never give them power nationally, the Left found in Congress a larger, more acceptable political vehicle to advance its ideological agenda. Under Rahul Gandhi, this relationship has acquired a new dimension. Congress increasingly draws from the radical fringes of Left-wing activism. From Kanhaiya Kumar to the wider activist politics associated with Umar Khalid, and now Neha Bora, new ideological faces are borrowed to inject political energy into Congress. Their prominence may come and go, but the Gandhi family’s hold over the party remains unchanged. There is a fundamental contradiction in the communist approach to democracy. Institutions are independent only when ideologically aligned. Electoral verdicts are legitimate only when favourable. Otherwise, institutions are discredited, mandates questioned and revolution romanticised. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar recognised this danger. Referring to the communists’ opposition to the Constitution, he observed, “They condemn the Constitution because it is based upon parliamentary democracy.” He warned against the “Grammar of Anarchy”. The hypocrisy extends to street protests. Many who once condemned mass mobilisation for Ram Janmabhoomi now glorify street demonstrations as democracy’s highest expression. Peaceful protest is a constitutional right, but it cannot substitute for the people’s mandate. Want to change a government? Convince the people. Win elections. Prove your majority in Parliament. There is also the enduring elitism of communist politics. Always speaking in the name of the poor, yet often disconnected from their aspirations. While millions of poorer Indians have benefited from Modi’s welfare delivery, sections of the urban, English-speaking ideological elite presume that their protests represent the conscience of the nation and want to essentially snatch away the real mandate of the poor. Thankfully, India is much larger than Delhi’s activist circles. The people of India rejected authoritarianism during the Emergency. Their democratic instincts remain as strong today. The true test of democracy is not whether you respect an institution when it agrees with you, but whether you respect it when it doesn’t. Not whether you accept an election you win, but whether you accept one you lose. Democracy belongs to the people of India, not to any ideological establishment or political dynasty. It’s incumbent on people like us to vehemently defend our democracy from mobocracy today.