'Every institution in India is under assault': Rahul Gandhi's fresh attack on PM Modi

"There is a need for active and structured negotiations between all institutions and the states that would enhance diversity. If the negotiations between the states break down, then to me the idea of India breaks down," Gandhi said during an online interaction with Brown University professor Ashutosh Varshney, faculty and students.

He said oppositions are not given that "space or room" for negotiations post 2014 elections.

"To give you an example, my microphone is turned off while am speaking in Parliament. That is the place where my voice could be heard by the entire country. Not just me, even BJP leaders are told what to speak inside the Parliament," said the Congress MP.

The discussion surfaced after two international independent organisations claimed that the status of India's democracy has declined.

US-based Freedom House report, which ranked 210 nations, noted that India's status as a free country has declined to "partly free".

Following that report, Sweden-based V-Dem Institute downgraded India's status to an "electoral autocracy" citing a "decline in democratic freedoms" since PM Modi took office in 2014.

Speaking on the issues, Gandhi said the situation is much worse than the report claims.

"I think the situation is must worse than what the report claims. An election is not simply people going and pressing a button on a voting machine. An election is about narrative. An election is about institutions that make sure that the framework in the country is operating properly, an election is about the judiciary being fare and a debate taking place in parliament. So you need those things for a vote to count," he said.

"Saddam Hussein and Gaddafi used to have elections. They used to win them. It wasn't like they weren't voting but there was no institutional framework to protect that vote," he said In an online interaction with Brown University professor Ashutosh Varshney, faculty and students.

Earlier the Indian Government had rebuked the ranking by Freedom House, calling it "misleading, incorrect and misplaced".