Opinion | The Ambani Wedding Event Signifies the Rise of the Oligarch in Modi’s India

Some Indians viewed the arrival of the world’s elite on their shores as a sign of their country’s growing prominence in the world. The occasion was treated as a national event, with “breaking news” and live feeds of the arrival and then departure of every celebrity; of the more than 1,000 guests who stayed in luxury tents and were provided with makeup artists and sari drapers and were reportedly served 2,500 dishes; of the lion-shaped diamond brooch on Anant Ambani’s suit and his Richard Mille wristwatch, worth an estimated $1 million, which even Mr. Zuckerberg appeared to covet.

But what viewers saw that long weekend in March wasn’t India at all, but the playground of an oligarch. The festivities took place weeks before a national election, at a time when India’s democracy is teetering on an edge. Violence against Muslims, Christians and Dalits has been normalized. The harassment of journalists, the incarceration of human rights activists and police violence against protesters has all but wrenched the country from the path chosen by its founding leaders, who wished the people of India to enjoy a “sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic.” In 2022, Freedom House, the nonprofit organization that tracks democratic governance, downgraded India from “free” to “partly free.” This status remains unchanged.

The Ambanis are entitled to spend their money on whatever they want (except, perhaps, on electoral bonds). And this latest celebration, while lavish, wasn’t entirely atypical in India, where weddings are viewed as an opportunity to demonstrate status. The giddy young couple at the center of the spectacle are charming: Ms. Merchant is a trained classical dancer; her fiancé is fond of animals. It would be churlish not to celebrate their happiness.

But if the 1911 Delhi durbar was a symbol of British imperial power, then the Ambani pre-wedding event in Jamnagar symbolized the rise of Mr. Modi’s oligarchs. And if this small group of people are thriving in their symbiotic relationship with the Indian prime minister, it comes at the cost of the nation’s experiment with building a democratic welfare state. That’s nothing to celebrate.

Sonia Faleiro is a writer and the founder of the literary mentorship program South Asia Speaks. Her most recent book is “The Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing.”

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