Former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha P.D.T. Achary on Sunday said it should be a matter for introspection whether India is truly the mother of democracies. Remembering former Chief Minister C. Achutha Menon on his 35th death anniversary at a function organised by the C. Achutha Menon Foundation, Mr. Achary said democracy should uphold liberty, equality and fraternity. We can claim to possess genuine democracy only when it is accompanied by social, economic and political justice, he said.

In a true democracy, the government does not have religion. But it is not so today. When the administrators make it appear that the government indeed has a religion, then secularism becomes a farce, he said.

Mr. Achary went on to say that it would not be amiss to describe Achutha Menon as a ‘Nehruvian Communist’. His ideas stood close to Nehru’s own socialist ideas. Achutha Menon left a profound impact on the development history of the State, he said. MLA G.R. Anil presided.

Published - August 16, 2026 09:33 pm IST