The headlines on the resounding victory of the Democrats in the November 3, 2026, mid-term elections in the United States continue to dominate across the globe. The jubilation across the US also resonates across the globe — except perhaps in Russia, Israel and a few other countries with right-wing regimes and staunch supporters of President Donald Trump and his brand of politics. In India, there seems to be some kind of restraint, even silence, among supporters of the religio-nationalist sections who are fans and followers of Narendra Modi. However, for others, the jubilation is palpable — perhaps a great Diwali gift.
A Diwali gift because the Democrats’ sweep across the US signals a change in the global political and economic scenario. Recently, we have also seen how Brazil rejected Bolsonaro once again and how Netanyahu failed to secure a majority in the Israeli elections. We have also seen how European countries have gradually rejected dictators who had destroyed their countries. Right-wing ideologies and politics seem to be on the wane, and it is only a matter of time before the winds of change blow over India too.
One has no pretensions to knowing the intricacies of American politics; therefore, I will not hold forth on the subject but leave that to the experts. However, protests in several democratic countries — including France now, and not least India — have common threads running through them. These include the deliberate downgrading of democracy; the capture of democratic institutions, including the judiciary and the media, and their misuse to unleash vendetta politics against political and other opposition; the misuse of security forces as private armies; false cases against the opposition; the intimidation and purchase of political parties and personalities; pandering to big businesses and corporations; the misuse of laws to trump up charges against dissent; and the imposition of unreasonable taxes and tariffs, among other things.
Then there is the total disregard for issues such as poverty, education, healthcare, dilapidated infrastructure, the soaring cost of living, housing, employment, the environment, corruption, crony capitalism and other existential issues that adversely affect the vast majority of the population, especially the disadvantaged. There is also the matter of religious elements being given excessive prominence, which goes against the secular credentials of democratic countries.
Whether it is students, young people, farmers, labourers or the rest of the working class, right-wing ideologies and politics, grounded as they are in biases, prejudices and all forms of bigotry, deprive the majority of the population of its present and future. Right-wing ideologies and politics are also anti-women and anti-children. Unable to bear the oppression of right-wing ideologies and politics, including the suppression of democratic rights, and finding no recourse in desecrated democratic institutions, people have started pouring into the streets and protesting. We have seen the consequences of such protests in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal last year, and it is likely that more such protests will take place in several other countries too. Such protests have started in India as well, and much as the pro-government media tries to suppress and demean them, as it has done so many times before, the people’s voices cannot be silenced. After all, what is a country without its people, its citizens?
Any cursory observer of history knows that power is not only ephemeral but also restless. Power does not like to be held in only one or a few hands for a long time, and it has its own sense of justice. The rise and fall of great empires and civilisations are evidence of that. Sometimes, only one or a few hands hold power for a long time, but ultimately, due to numerous factors, power escapes those hands and lands in unexpected ones. Power is certainly not blind, deaf or mute, and it creates opportunities for people to have their say. That is what seems to have happened in the recent mid-term elections in the US. The same is likely to happen elsewhere too — say, in India. In any case, no individual or group of individuals was ever born to hold and exercise power forever. Ironically, power has no expiry date, but human beings do. Along with the demise of those in power, everyone and everything associated with them crumble.
Any cursory observer of history also knows that ideologies and politics swing like a pendulum from time to time. Thus, in democratic countries, power shifts from one side to another because, even if people make a mistake, they have the opportunity to correct their past mistakes. Unfortunately, those who lose power or from whose hands power is slipping do not see or acknowledge their mistakes but instead find scapegoats. So, while President Trump and his minions blame the Iran war, which they started, the fact of the matter is that the US turned blue on November 3, 2026, for numerous reasons, most of which are existential. Ultimately, this also points to the fact that policies that either ease or complicate people’s lives determine where power resides. And it is always people-friendly policies that win the day.
People who currently hold power will never give it up easily, and they will go to any extreme to hold on to it. Such extreme measures harm the people, and therein lies the crux of the loss of power. The interesting aspect of it all is that, until the end, it looks as if those in power are winning, but somehow, a David always rises up to slingshot Goliath. The underdog is never without brains or capabilities, however much it is demonised — in India, it is demonised as ‘dimagi naxal’ — which actually reveals a fear of the dimag. As long as the underdog believes in itself, perseveres, persists and uses its brain, the war is not over, although a few battles may be lost.
The November 3, 2026, US mid-term elections are not just a huge victory for the Democrats but also a light at the end of the tunnel for so many democratic countries that have fallen prey to the seduction of larger-than-life leaders who are portrayed as intransigent disciples of right-wing ideologies and politics and present themselves as messiahs. As the recent US election results indicate, mistakes are made, but no one has to live with them because they can always be corrected. Of course, the sooner, the better, because often rebuilding from scratch is cheaper than repairing old damage.
Monalisa Changkija is a Dimapur-based veteran journalist, poet, and former Proprietor, Publisher and Editor of Nagaland Page.