Is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi becoming a dictator? Won the election in 2024, won't he hold the election in 2029? Is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) moving on the path of 'one nation, one party'? Dhruv Rathi's latest video, popularly known as 'YouTube-star', indicates that Modi is on the way to becoming a dictator?

The latest video made by Dhruv Rathi about the Modi government is currently in the news. The video, which has a thumbnail of Modi's picture with the caption 'Scared Tyrant?', has been viewed more than 25 million times so far. Rathi claims that even though the dictatorial rule has not yet started in India, Modi is on the path of authoritarian rule. He has presented the arrest of two chief ministers of the opposition party, the systematic mobilization of investigative agencies against the opposition party, and the taking over of public institutions and mass media as the basis for this.  Rathi, who started his YouTube career by making

travel vlogs, is bringing political waves. Rathi is not just a YouTube star. It is only after constant hard work and dedication that his videos are highly liked. Started with 'Zero' in June 2014, his YouTube channel now has over 17 million subscribers. The first content Rathi posted on YouTube was a video about a waterpark in Germany. In almost 10 years since the video posted by iPhone-5S, the views have not exceeded 1 million. However, his video about Apollo-11 Chandrayaan made 1 year ago has been viewed 25 million times till Tuesday. 

5 years ago in a conversation with Ravish Kumar on NDTV Prime Time, Rathi said, 'I am not a journalist, I prefer to call myself a YouTuber.' But he is doing what a mainstream journalist should do. Even if he does not say, he is doing Jabber journalism in particular. A debunker of leaders and alleged mainstream media lies, Rathi gained popularity so quickly that he was declared a 'Next Generation Leader' by the prestigious Time magazine. Rathi has emerged as a 'YouTube Educator' at a time when the Jamaat is growing to believe anything that comes on YouTube and WhatsApp. Born in Rohtak, Haryana, he completed his Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Germany. Ghumante started his YouTube channel with videos and now he is posting social, political and educational content. He also runs another YouTube channel called 'Dhruv Rathi Vlogs' which has around 2.4 million subscribers.

Rathi has become an alternative for viewers who are tired of the 'Hindu-Muslim and Pakistan' debate that is shown in daily television shows. Not only him, Ravish Kumar, Ajit Anjum, Barkha Dutt, Akash Banerjee, who have been involved in mainstream journalism for a long time, have also made YouTube their main platform. 

About 2 years after the first and second videos were posted, Rathi in the third video criticized the BJP 'IT cell'. In the said video, he revealed how BJP's IT cell has played a role in spreading misleading information. Meanwhile, he also made a video about Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. In the video titled 'Yogi Adityanath's reality', it is revealed how Yogi rose to politics by giving flamboyant speeches and violent expressions. Adityanath used to say at some point, 'There is no difference in the language of Shahrukh Khan and Hafiz Saeed.... Shah Rukh Khan comes under the category of traitor.'  Rathi has made more than 600 videos on various topics such as

information, awakening, politics, etc. Adding the views of all the videos exceeds 2.5 billion. Two videos made about Modi within 1 month are worth discussing. It is no secret that the Modi era is the 'Amrit era' in India and is developing at a rapid pace in history. In such a situation, what is the meaning of watching Rathi's video which indicates that the country is going towards "dictatorship"? Delhi University professor and writer Apoorvananda writes in The Wire, "Isn't this a sign that there is still a hunger to know the truth in India?" Are people ready to fight against Indian citizens if they are trying to convert them into subjects?' 

All major media are singing the glory of Modi government day and night. In this, Rathi emerged as an 'alternative voice'. Rathi presents what comes in the newspaper in an interesting and critical way. Apoorvananda says, 'Dhruv Rathi has not said anything new, such analyzes have been done many times before him. However, the importance of video should not be underestimated.

Shekhar Gupta, the founder of The Print, says that dictatorship has not come to the country. In print's 'Headline Ke Pichhe Kya Hai' series, he says, "If democracy had ended, such things would not be possible here." Rathi also did not say that dictatorship has come. Instead, he warned that India is moving in that direction. Rathi's reply to Gupta is, 'So far my voice has not been stopped, we are happy about that. But what about those whose voices have been suppressed?' Rathi is clear on this. He says that not everything is exactly in 'black and white'. "I have never said that the country is 100% in the hands of a dictator. As I said, the country is heading towards a dictatorship. I am saying this even now.' 

 In the recently published 'Democracy Report, 2024' of Sweden's Variety of Democracy Institute, it is mentioned that India is only a little away from becoming a total dictatorship. The report said that there is an 'electoral autocracy' in India. An 'electoral autocracy' is a form of government where elections are held periodically but democratic institutions are curtailed. Rathi claims that there will be regular elections in North Korea and Russia too, but all of them are just appearances. Rathi said that even though multi-party elections are being held in India, there is no clean and fear-free environment for competition, so abuse of power has been confirmed. Some accuse Rathi of being run by the Congress and others by the Aam Aadmi Party. However, he claims that even his family has no 'remote' relationship with politics. He has made a critical video of Indira Gandhi's reign and has called the crisis period as a 'black spot in Indian history'. "Today's mistakes cannot be justified by showing yesterday's mistakes," he says, "what happened yesterday is also very wrong, what is happening today is also happening very wrong." 

Most media in India are bought by big business houses. Modi's friend Gautam Adani also bought NDTV, which was doing fearless journalism. Then Ravish Kumar, a senior journalist working there, opened his own YouTube channel. Now his channel has almost 10 million subscribers. 

Journalist Narayan Bareth, who has worked for the BBC for more than 15 years, says that recently journalists have stopped asking questions. In a society where questions die, such a society becomes unconscious. Now no questions are asked in any forum in India. Asking questions has become a risky job," he said in a conversation with Kantipur, who is also a professor of journalism. "This is happening in such a land, where Arjuna, who asked the most questions, was born, if he had not asked questions, the world would have been deprived of a book like the Gita." In 1984, in Parliament BJP had only 2 seats. Prabhas Joshi, the then editor of Jan Satta, said, 'When the opposition is weak, the will of the ruling party increases. The media should warn.' 

Lately, content spreading hate on YouTube channels is also on the rise, according to Bareth. He says, "Now both the abuser and the abuser are getting money. Not only that, the media has come under the control of the moneyed people.' He says that Rathi became famous because he exposed aspects that were not covered by television. 

Hindi journalism has the potential to upset election results. That is why the government has been accused of making most of the media houses 'puppets'. In television debate programs, the presenter appears to be presenting himself as the spokesperson of the BJP. Speakers who are invited as panellists also ask questions on the opposition party. 

If the Prime Minister and the Home Minister agree, there was not much debate in the mainstream media about the law that can appoint the Election Commissioner. Earlier, the election commissioners were appointed by a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice. But the Modi government brought new laws to make it easier for them. Now it has been arranged that only the Prime Minister, Federal Minister and Leader of the Opposition will be in the Selection Committee. Now two election commissioners have been selected in this way. Rathi discussed the election commissioner selection process, "The list of 212 names was handed over to the leader of the opposition party, Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary, a night ago. A short list of six people was given to him just a few minutes before the meeting. So Chaudhary did not have time to look at the background of anyone on the list. Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah arbitrarily appointed two election commissioners. Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhveer Sandhu appointed as Election Commissioner  Considered close to BJP. Kumar is a retired IAS officer who served in Amit Shah's office between 2016 and 2021. Sukhveer Sandhu was working in the National Highways Authority of India under the Ministry of Transport from 2014 to 2023.  Not only

employees, judges are also showing behavior close to the ruling party. Kolkata High Court Judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay joined the BJP after resigning some time ago. He has revealed that he was in touch with the BJP even before resigning. He did not stop there. He also told that when he had to choose between Gandhi and Godse, he was very strong. In this, Rathi's question is, "If such judges are in contact with political parties, can it be said that our judiciary is independent?" 

Rathi also has a real comment about the money laundering law 'PMLA Act' which can put anyone in jail without proof. "In other laws, it is presumed innocent until proven guilty, but in PMLA, it is presumed guilty until proven innocent," he says. He also accused the government of targeting the leaders of the opposition parties before the elections based on this act. An example of this is the BJP's tussle with Aurobindo Firma's Saratchandra Reddy, who is embroiled in the liquor policy scam. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested based on Reddy's statement. Reddy, who initially spoke in favor of Kejriwal, was released after repeatedly changing his statement. 5 days after his arrest, Aurobindo Firma donated 5 crores to BJP. About six months after he was released on bail in May 2023, the BJP received another Rs 25 crore donation from Reddy's same company.