The Saffron State: An analysis of Bureaucratic and Administrative Development of India Under Modi from 2018-2022
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65826/JSAI.1.1.2026.25Keywords:
Saffronisation, Modi, Administration, Hindutva, UAPAAbstract
The Modi government reorganized internal state structures, going further than traditional cultural frameworks in exercising ideological influence through the path of governance. This research looks into saffronisation in India from a new angle. It looks into how lawless but Hindutva-friendly activities undermined constitutional policing, legal, and bureaucratic neutral governance through strategic appointments, parliamentary manoeuvring, and unofficial support structures. Evolution of saffronisation in governance is understood in terms of political science and governance frameworks of embedded autonomy, executive aggrandizement, institutional theory. It portrays incremental institutional capture through case study, legal history, and data of the employment of UAPA and the pendency of cases in judiciary. This study serves as a sign of democratic regression, the institutional decline also serves as the indicator of the structural reconstitution of the Indian administration.
References
Ash, E., Asher, S., Bhowmick, A., Bhupatiraju, S., Chen, D. L., Devi, T., ... & Siddiqi, B. (2022). Measuring gender and religious bias in the indian judiciary. https://www.tse-fr.eu/sites/default/files/TSE/documents/doc/wp/2022/wp_tse_1395.pdf
Alt News. (2017, September 28). BHU is now an RSS laboratory, has become a hell-hole for female students. https://www.altnews.in/bhu-now-rss-laboratory-become-hell-hole-female-students
Basant Kumar Mohanty. (2023, March 23). Government figures show SC/ST lacuna in civil services. Telegraph India. https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/government-figures-show-sc-st-lacuna-in-civil-services/cid/1925496
Bhatia, A. (2020). ‘Saffronisation of India’: A critical discourse analysis of contemporary political ideology. In World Englishes (Vols. 39–568, pp. 568–580). https://doi.org/10.1111/weng.12494
Bermeo, N. (2016). On Democratic backsliding. Journal of Democracy, 27(1), 5–19. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2016.0012
Evans, P., B. (1995). Embedded autonomy. Princeton University Press.
Agamben, G. (2004). State of exception (K. Attell, Trans.). https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226009261.001.0001
H. Srikanth. (2024, April 18). Indian Knowledge System and Pseudo-Science! Mahabahu.com. https://mahabahu.com/indian-knowledge-system-and-pseudo-science/
Huju, K. (2022). Saffronizing diplomacy: The Indian Foreign Service under Hindu nationalist rule. International Affairs, 98(2), 423–441. https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiab220
Human Rights Watch. (2020, April 9). “Shoot the Traitors”: Discrimination Against Muslims under India’s New Citizenship Policy [Report]. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/04/10/shoot-traitors/discrimination-against-muslims-under-indias-new-citizenship-policy
Human Rights Watch. (1999). The context of Anti-Christian violence. In Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/indiachr/christians8-03.htm
India: Persecution of minorities and shrinking space for dissent. (2022). In Amnesty International (ASA 20/5491/2022). Amnesty International. https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/ASA2054912022ENGLISH.pdf
Jaffrelot, C. (2023, August 2). Christophe Jaffrelot writes: Bajrang Dal and making of the deeper state. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/karnataka-election-result-poll-campaign-congress-bjp-8645595/
Jaffrelot, C. (2021). Modi’s India: Hindu nationalism and the rise of ethnic democracy. Princeton University Press.
Lawful Legal. (2025, January 17). Judicial Independence in India’s Appointment Process. Retrieved from https://lawfullegal.in/judicial-independence-in-indias-appointment-process/
Limaye, Y. (2020, August 27). Kashmir's young politicians say they are being silenced. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-53891354
Levitsky, S., & Way, L. A. (2010). Competitive authoritarianism: Hybrid regimes after the Cold War (Yale University, Ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://www.cambridge.org/9780521882521
Miller, E. J. (2023). The concept of the police. Criminal Law and Philosophy, 17(3), 573–595. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11572-023-09682-8
Mahoney, J., & Thelen, K. (Eds.). (2014). Explaining institutional change: Ambiguity, Agency, and Power.
Mosher, F. C. (1968). Democracy and the Public Service. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Nair, D. (2025). Navigating Marginality: The complex realities of Muslim Minorities in India. In IntechOpen eBooks. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.1010143
Narwal, N. (2023, August 31). UAPA in the Delhi riots cases. People’s Union for Civil Liberties. https://pucl.org/manage-writings/uapa-in-the-delhi-riots-cases/
Newsclick. (2024, February 1). Delhi University campuses witness growing trend to push RSS ideology: Report. https://www.newsclick.in/delhi-university-campuses-witness-growing-trend-push-rss-ideology-report
Peak Point. (2025, July 21). Judicial Independence Under Threat: Modi’s Grip on India’s Courts. Retrieved from https://www.peakpoint.pk/en/2025/07/21/judicial-independence-india-crisis/
PTI. (2022, April 28). Govt reinstates IAS officer Shah Faesal in service 3 years after he resigned and joined politics in J&K. The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/govt-reinstates-ias-officer-shah-faesal-in-service-3-years-after-he-resigned-and-joined-politics-in-jk/articleshow/91158164.cms?from=mdr
PTI. (2019, November 27). Over 5,000 preventive arrests in J-K since August 5, 609 still in custody: Govt. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/over-5000-preventive-arrests-in-j-k-since-august-5-609-still-in-custody-govt-6139548/
Sudha Ramachandran. (2024, August 5). Jammu and Kashmir: Five years after the abrogation of its autonomy. The Diplomat. https://thediplomat.com/2024/08/jammu-and-kashmir-five-years-after-the-abrogation-of-its-autonomy/
Sundar, Nandini. (2018). Academic freedom and Indian universities. Economic and Political Weekly. 53. 48-57. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/644f86dd486ddf270c34b646/t/64ad6e87fe9d40533bd52cb1/1689087624626/academic+freedom+EPW.pdf
Rivera, C. V. (2020). Loyalty or incentives? How party alignment affects bureaucratic performance. The Journal of Politics, 82(4), 1287–1304. https://doi.org/10.1086/708337
Sahoo, N. (2024, July 3). UAPA and the growing crisis of judicial credibility in India. orfonline.org. https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/uapa-growing-crisis-judicial-credibility-india
Sahadžić, M. (2023). Asymmetric vs. symmetric federalism: equity vs. equality. In Teaching Federalism: Multidimensional Approaches. https://www.elgaronline.com/
The Quint. (2020, September 13). Kapil Mishra’s speech missing from Delhi Police charge sheet on riots. The Quint. https://www.thequint.com/news/politics/kapil-mishra-delhi-police-charge-sheet-maujpur-jafrabad-violence
Upadhyay, S. (2022). “(Hindu) Workers of India, Unite!”: How class politics shape the consolidation of Right-Wing hegemony in India. In Springer eBooks (pp. 93–119). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97030-7_4
Vishwanath, A., & C G, M. (2023, January 10). Last 5 years, 79% of new HC judges upper caste, SC and minority 2% each. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/last-5-years-79-of-new-hc-judges-upper-caste-sc-and-minority-2-each-8371593/
Venkataraman, L. N. (2018). Can lateral entry in the IAS ensure good governance? Economic and Political Weekly, 53(32). Retrieved from https://www.epw.in/engage/article/can-lateral-entry-in-ias-ensure-good-governance
Weber, M. (1946). From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology. Oxford University Press.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Sadi Mohamod Sadi, Sarziul Sifat Khan, AKM Faysal, Shrabasti Chakma
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
