Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara on Tuesday, 15 September 2026 warned that any weakening of India's electoral system would fall hardest on the country's most vulnerable communities — Dalits, backward classes, and minorities. He made the remarks at the International Democracy Day programme organised by the Social Welfare Department at the Vidhana Soudha Banquet Hall in Bengaluru.

Core Argument: Democracy as a Shield for the Marginalised

Parameshwara argued that free and fair elections, human rights protections, press freedom, public participation, accountability, and transparency were not abstract ideals but the practical foundations of a just society. He cited Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's Constitution as the bedrock that had kept India resilient even as neighbouring democracies — Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal — had faced varying degrees of political turbulence.

'The first impact will be on people at the lower rungs of society. Dalits, backward classes and minorities will suffer,' he said. He added that Ambedkar had provided constitutional safeguards and reservations to uplift communities that had faced oppression for thousands of years, and questioned why those communities should be denied a path to the mainstream.

Allegation Against the Union Government

In a sharply political turn, Parameshwara alleged that the Union government was attempting to weaken the electoral system to entrench itself in power permanently, calling the trend 'dangerous.' He stopped short of specifying the measures he was referring to, but the remarks land amid ongoing national debate over electoral reforms and the autonomy of constitutional bodies.

He called upon citizens to uphold democratic values and ensure that those who 'worked against democracy' were kept away from power — a statement that drew applause from the audience at Vidhana Soudha.

India as the 'Mother of Democracy'

Drawing on Karnataka's own philosophical heritage, Parameshwara invoked the Anubhava Mantapa — a 12th-century deliberative assembly established under social reformers Basavanna and Allama Prabhu — as evidence of India's deep democratic tradition predating modern parliamentary systems. 'While the British Parliament is often called the father of democracy, India is the mother of democracy,' he said.

He also cited Ambedkar's formulation that political democracy cannot survive without the foundation of social democracy — a principle he said the Karnataka government was trying to operationalise through constitutional awareness drives, including distributing copies of the Constitution's Preamble to schools, colleges, and homes.

Focus on Gen Z and Democratic Continuity

Parameshwara underlined a demographic imperative: approximately 65 per cent of India's population falls in the 16–35 age group, and the country must equip this generation to carry forward its democratic institutions. 'Gen Z has now come to the forefront. We have a responsibility to hand over a better political system to them. We must inculcate constitutional values and democratic principles among them,' he said.

The event was attended by Karnataka Social Welfare Minister K.H. Muniyappa, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Rizwan Arshad, Kannada and Culture Minister Shivaraj S. Thangadagi, and other legislators and dignitaries.

With electoral processes facing fresh scrutiny across South Asia, Parameshwara's remarks signal that the ruling Congress in Karnataka intends to keep constitutional safeguards — and the politics of representation — at the centre of public discourse ahead of the next cycle of elections.