"Political hostility between the State executive and elected representatives of the Opposition threatens the core of representative democracy." Discuss with reference to recent instances and constitutional safeguards.

Representative democracy depends on elected members being able to reach and serve voters freely. When the State executive treats an Opposition MP as an adversary, "party" and "government" begin to merge. The Supreme Court's notice on MP Mahua Moitra's petition (October 2026) shows how real this risk is [1].

Recent instances of hostility

• Denial of space: the State allegedly tried to evict the Krishnanagar MP from a Circuit House and refused permission for her public meetings [1].
• Development as leverage: under MPLADS, a Central sector scheme, the MP only recommends works [2]. District officials can therefore stall an Opposition MP's works [1].
• Coercive tools: FIRs were filed against her, and ruling-party mobs were allegedly tolerated [1].

How it threatens representative democracy

• Broken accountability: if an MP cannot move or hold meetings freely, voters' grievances go unheard.
• Partisan bureaucracy: officials who serve the party instead of the Constitution lose their neutrality.
• Federal friction: the Centre funds MPLADS but the State's officials carry it out, so hostility at the State level stops delivery.

Constitutional safeguards

• Articles 14, 19(1)(a), (b), (d) and 21 protect equality, speech, assembly, movement and liberty. They can be enforced directly through Article 32. The Court has sought counter-affidavits from both the Union and the State [1].
• Article 105 privileges protect the MP's work inside the House.
• The Prakash Singh (2006) directions aim to shield the police from political control.

The other side

• Articles 19(3) and 19(5) allow reasonable restrictions in the interest of public order, so each refusal may be lawful on its own.
• Delay is common in MPLADS anyway. The CAG found ₹1,788 crore unspent with District Authorities in 2009 [3]. The 2nd ARC even advised abolishing MPLADS to keep MPs out of executive work [4].

The threat therefore comes less from any single act than from lawful powers being used together for partisan ends. The way forward has three parts:

• reasoned orders for every refused permission;
• public, district-wise MPLADS sanction timelines;
• police insulated from political control, as Prakash Singh directed.

Treating every elected representative equally upholds the Preamble's democratic republic and SDG 16's goal of accountable institutions.