When the supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, on January 9: “Deeply concerned about the news of rioting and vandalism against the State institutions in Brasilia. Democratic traditions must be respected by everyone…” The tweet befits the leader wishing to make India the teacher of the world, yet seems mendacious when read in the country’s political context.

Bolsonaro’s supporters believed the presidential election was rigged in favour of his Leftist rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Their rioting in Brasilia was designed to reinstate Bolsonaro in defiance of the loss of his mandate. But violence is not the only method of subverting democratic traditions. For instance, the Bharatiya Janata Party installed its governments by engineering defections and splits in states where it had lost elections. Think Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa, Manipur…