India, Dec. 14 -- In Democracy for Winners Only, retired civil servant Raj Kumar Srivastava presents a deeply reflective and unsettling account of how India's democratic journey has drifted away from its founding ideals. Drawing on over thirty years in public service across India's forests, villages, and administrative corridors, Srivastava offers a powerful meditation on the widening gap between democratic participation and democratic power. The core argument is arresting: India's democracy increasingly privileges the victorious rather than the virtuous. Electoral triumphs, he argues, have evolved into tools that legitimise centralisation, weaken institutions, and reduce citizens to spectators. Participation remains high, yet its influen...