Crucial elections are approaching, at home and abroad

Rarely have two elections had such significance for India at home and the world at large

- KC SINGH

November brings two crucial elections with consequences, at home and abroad. The result of the November 5 US presidential election will have local and global significance.

Former president Donald Trump's political polarization of the US has degenerated to the point where he is directly threatening his political opponents and critics, even with the use of the US military. By comparison, during the 2016 election his repetitive chants of "jail her", to target his opponent Hillary Clinton, were more ill-mannered rhetoric than a serious punitive threat. He left her alone after his win.

However, his electoral loss in the 2020 election and incitement of a mob on January 6, 2021 to invade the Capitol Hill, spells the danger he now presents to US democracy. His continuing refusal to accept defeat undermines a basic democratic principle i.e., orderly transfer of power. The current presidential election has many unprecedented elements. An incumbent president's withdrawal and replacement by the vice president just four months before the poll is sui generis.

In fact, former president Donald Trump kept bemoaning the substitution as if he expected some referee to blow the whistle.