As India steps into the new year of 2026, the nation finds itself at a critical juncture. According to a thought-provoking column by Pratap Bhanu Mehta, published in The Indian Express on January 2, 2026, the most significant battle shaping India's destiny is not a conventional political one. It is, instead, a profound contest between the harsh discipline of reality and the seductive allure of political fantasy.
The Illusion of Stability and the Rise of Fantasy
On the surface, India presents a picture of remarkable stability in a turbulent world. Its political system, under the BJP, shows consolidated power, even as it veers towards authoritarianism. The economy displays a surface-level resilience, and the culture remains dynamic. However, Mehta warns that this very stability may be breeding vulnerability. A deceptive calm masks underlying institutional failures, social tensions, and simmering discontent.
Political fantasy, in this context, is not about hopeful narratives but a mendacious evasion of reality. It is the preference for emotionally gratifying stories over hard facts, for moral self-congratulation over honest diagnosis, and for symbolic victories over substantive achievement. This fantasy saturates India's public life, particularly through narratives of civilisational redemption.
Confronting the Hard Truths: From Communalism to Global Power
One dominant fantasy, Mehta notes, suggests that historical anxieties can be resolved by deepening communal divides. This recasts modern politics as an epic struggle between Hindus and Muslims, turning politics into myth and victimhood into virtue. This approach offers the emotional satisfaction of identifying villains but evades the harder task of building a shared civic future that accommodates difference.
A parallel fantasy revolves around the idea of effortless global power. The rhetoric of 'vishwaguru' and grand spectacles suggests international stature can be conjured by self-belief alone. However, events like Operation Sindoor in 2025 served as a reality check on India's actual global political leverage. True great-power status requires a massive expansion of India's material footprint, not just 4% of global trade.
Economically, while progress exists, fantasy takes over when this progress is not measured against the monumental scale of remaining challenges. Growth numbers hide stagnant private investment. There is a dangerous denial in the belief that growth can be willed into existence, bypassing critical needs in education, skills, R&D investment, and technological leadership. Schemes like 'Viksit Bharat' risk becoming mere aspiration without concrete strategy.
The Democratic Erosion and the Path of Sober Realism
This contest between fantasy and reality directly impacts democratic life. Fantasy politics thrives on permanent mobilisation, turning every disagreement into an existential battle. It reduces citizens to spectators, where applause replaces participation. This clashes with the erosion of civil liberties, assaults on federalism, declining judicial independence, and the compromised credibility of institutions like the Election Commission.
Mehta points out that dwelling in fantasy is a bipartisan temptation. While the government promotes its constructed world, the opposition, particularly the Congress party, remains trapped in its own unreality, failing to adapt to new social conditions or repair itself.
The columnist argues that India today exemplifies an attempt to make imagination precede reality. Power is exercised by inviting citizens to inhabit grand civilisational and geopolitical worlds before their material foundations exist. Yet, this constructed world inevitably collides with stubborn realities: uneven human capital, structural underemployment, low productivity, ecological degradation, and limited leverage in global supply chains. If technology defines the future, India is not yet in the race.
India faces a difficult moment both globally and domestically. The central question for 2026, adapting George Orwell's phrase, is whether sober realism will guide action, or whether the nation will continue to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. The fact that the rest of the world is also gripped by its own fantasies offers no comfort; it only raises the price of delusion. As the new year begins, the hope is that India chooses the path of clear-eyed realism over the intensifying suffering of chasing mirages.
