 You're watching NewsClick. This is News Made Easy. We are living in extremely grim times and I don't mean just the COVID surge, which is taking so many lives across India right now. I also mean what is happening to democracy. Mamata Banerjee has won in West Bengal and then a campaign of violence has been unleashed once again. We've seen that repeatedly in West Bengal, violence against opponents by the government. And we're hearing that attacks, I mean, undertaken not only on BJP supporters, not only on the left, but Congress and even those who were actually campaigned against the BJP are at facing the violence of the Trinamool machinery. Now that Mamata Banerjee is back in the saddle with very high numbers, more than 200 seats, which no one predicted. But at the same time, there's a glimmer of hope which has appeared because of the West Bengal win. And I don't mean this for the people of West Bengal. I mean it for the people of India as a whole. But before I get into that, I'm going to actually talk about NewsClick's new initiative. If you want to support independent journalism, if you want to support journalists who speak truth to power, who bring you the truth, which is essential as you now understand in a democracy, because if you're not told the truth, you can lose your life as you can see people losing their lives in the middle of COVID, which India's mainstream media had said has gone away in January, February. It's back because the media didn't do its job. We are doing it, many independent journalists are doing it, but you have to support us. We have to pay salaries. We have to pay journalists to go and collect news for you. And that is why please become members of NewsClick on YouTube. You just have to click on this link, go there, click on the join button that you see there. And then there are three different options. They're not very expensive. They're cheaper than buying your monthly newspaper. So we are speaking truth to power. Please do support us by becoming members and joining on YouTube and paying that small little bit of money. Okay, let's get back to what I was saying, which is just like your support for NewsClick improves your chance of living in a democratic environment. The West Bengal elections have had a serious impact in terms of democracy in India. And what do I mean by that? You do understand that the entire government machinery had been pushed behind the BJP's attempt to win West Bengal. We saw an absent government because the prime minister, the home minister, chief ministers from different states, those star campaigners who, at the end of the day, didn't manage to do anything. They went and camped in West Bengal. They campaigned. They tried to polarize the state. And at the end of the day, they couldn't win it. And why is that important? Because we know that the mishandling of COVID around us, you see that. There's no oxygen in the capital of the country. Private hospitals are not able to treat even the richest and the most affluent. Even they are dying right now. So given that, we've seen complete collapse of governance in India. But at the same time, institutions are now speaking up. Institutions are upholding the rights of individuals. Whether it is the media, whether it is courts, that was very crucial. Because every institution ultimately bows down to political opinion, to public opinion. And what would have happened if the BJP had managed to win West Bengal? Forget about West Bengal right now. That would have been a different story altogether. But what would have happened to the rest of the nation? India's mainstream, go the media. The people who are sitting on the lap of the government and not asking a single question, they would have gone on an overdrive, telling you that there is nothing wrong with the handling of COVID. The fact that the people of West Bengal have restored their faith or removed Vamta Banerjee and placed their faith in the BJP tells you that the country, the nation is happy and satisfied with the way that Modi Sarkar has handled COVID. And then suddenly you would have seen newspapers withdrawing. You would have seen many people of vocal today withdrawing. The corporate sector would have withdrawn. They would not have said anything because public opinion is something that no one dares to fight, especially those who have a skin in the game. The fact that West Bengal has sent a message to the Modi government that you have tried your best here but you could not win. You're not invincible. You can lose elections despite putting in all the money power, all your Chanakya Neeti, yet the BJP lost. And that is a national signal. It's a signal sent to every institution, every state institution that is out there, whether it is the CBI, whether it is the CAG, whether it is the courts, everyone, district, every one can now say we can do our jobs without having to be scared that there is one powerful person or this government is so powerful that we cannot speak out because something will happen to us. Try and recall what happened in the UPA period. It's the courts who spoke up, right? When there were allegations of various scams, some of them dissipated later on. We know that some of them turned out to be not scams at all or the legal process didn't lead to anyone being punished. But the court spoke up. The institutions like CAG spoke up, right? They spoke up and said this is wrong. What is happening is wrong. They were part of the state but not government. That is crucial in any democracy. A government can be in power but it is only supposed to be in that space, executive, doing things, administering things. It cannot control the legislature which frames laws. It's not supposed to be in the judiciary and actually even the bureaucratic framework and independent institutions. As I said, there are many independent institutions supposedly whether it is the election commission, the so-called independent CBI, so-called independent controller and auditor general. All of these are supposed to be autonomous and independent but yes, they work in concert with the ruling, the government of the day. But when the government of the day becomes autocratic, doesn't listen to anyone, these institutions are supposed to speak up. They don't speak up when it looks like there is a complete hegemony of one party across India. Only one party can speak and no one else can speak. Only one party is winning, no one else can win. That has been put into the background, into the back burner by the West Bengal election results. The fact that the BJP has lost, the fact that one year of campaigning to win West Bengal has failed. That tells us that this is an opening for institutions to work again. I'm not talking about the opposition. I'm not saying that the government has to be defeated. I'm saying that institutions including the media needs to speak up, do their job. And only when a powerful central government faces setbacks like this, that institutions start feeling confident that they can uphold the rights of the citizens. The fact that nothing has been done even now to give oxygen to hospitals in a country which has no shortage supposedly of oxygen. That tells you that the government, governance has failed in this country. And it has failed because questions weren't asked. The government was allowed to do whatever it wanted to do without any questions being asked. The media didn't ask, institutions didn't ask. That is the truth. And this is why the Bengal elections are significant. I'll repeat, West Bengal elections have a different meaning for West Bengal where we're seeing violence being undertaken. The Trinamur got 48% votes and it wants to consolidate it even further and it's unleashing a campaign of terror once again which it has done many, many times in the past. It is happening again. So we have to separate these two. One thing is that West Bengal elections, the other is its impact nationally. Its impact nationally is to strengthen democracy. I hope Mamta Banerjee also ensures that she acts now and strengthens democracy within her state as well. I'll repeat as I leave, do become members. I told you how to become a member. Click on this link, go to join, join. And there are three options very cheap. Please contribute and help us provide good journalism to you.