Yechury says India now an electoral autocracy

New Delhi, Mar 12: CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday said India is now an electoral autocracy in response to media reports on Swedish Institute's democracy report that downgraded India.

Modi-led government in India has used laws on sedition, defamation and counter terrorism to silence critics. India's level of liberal democracy registered a steep decline since its high in 2013. What a shame," he said quoting from the report.

This comes after another global report by a US government-funded NGO, Freedom House downgraded India's status from "free" to "partly free" and claimed that "political rights and civil liberties have eroded in India since Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014".

The government has strongly rebutted the Freedom House report and called it "misleading, incorrect and misplaced", while asserting that the country has well established democratic practices.