In little over two weeks, India will commence what is billed as the largest exercise in electoral democracy in history. Close to 1bn people are expected to vote in its 44-day-long general election. Citing ancient traditions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly called India the “mother of democracy”. If so, an intensifying clampdown on opposition parties suggests this matriarch of representative government is in ill health, with worrying implications for the coming polls and what may follow.

A squeeze on free expression and opposition has been a feature of the rule of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party, especially since its second general election victory five years ago. Harassment, often by tax or legal authorities, has become common for government critics, be they independent media, academics, thank-tanks or civil society groups. The BJP’s muscular Hindu nationalism has eroded India’s tradition of secular democracy.

What is alarming now is a sharp step-up in state enforcement agencies apparently being used to stifle opposition parties and politicians as the election approaches. A stark example is the recent arrest of Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of Delhi since 2015 and one of India’s most prominent opposition leaders. The leader of the Aam Aadmi party was detained after questioning by a body that polices economic crimes, over an alleged “scam” involving alcohol sales. Other senior officials of the AAP, which runs northern Punjab state as well as Delhi, have been held as part of the same probe.