Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday accused the Congress and its allies of plotting a Bangladesh-style “regime change” in India, alleging at a Lucknow press conference that opposition leaders are using youth-led protests against the Election Commission to incite anarchy rather than pursue electoral reform.
Singh said young people were being turned into “pawns in the politics of disorder” and that the opposition was using their energy as instruments of political confrontation and chaos instead of nation-building. He insisted the agitation had nothing to do with electoral reforms, the SIR of electoral rolls, or CEC Gyanesh Kumar — calling it a conspiracy to seize power by inciting anarchy.
What the minister alleged
Singh alleged that opposition leaders had openly drawn inspiration from Bangladesh — where a 2024 uprising toppled Sheikh Hasina’s government — and cited recent statements by advocate Prashant Bhushan and AISA president Neha Bora. At a Delhi press conference on Thursday, Bhushan had said the struggle was “really for a regime change” — “yes, we all want regime change” — remarks the BJP seized on overnight.
“It appears that the Congress and its political allies, both directly and through their affiliated organisations, are attempting to channel the energy of young people not into constructive activities and nation-building, but into instruments of political confrontation and the spread of chaos.”
Singh advised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to respect the public mandate and introspect on his political role. BJP spokesperson CR Kesavan told NDTV on Thursday that the SIR controversy was merely a “smokescreen” for Gandhi and that his real agenda was to derail Indian democracy, adding that Gandhi was unfit to remain Leader of the Opposition.
The opposition’s response
The opposition rejects the charge outright. Bhushan said spreading “disaffection” against a government was not a crime in a democracy, and CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke insisted in a late-night press meet that the CJP’s fight was for the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner through an independent process — not regime change.
“We are just saying that remove Gyanesh Kumar, who is not even listening to his fellow election commissioners. Is this a crime?” — Abhijeet Dipke, CJP founder
Opposition parties say the protests are about the SIR exercise, which they allege lacks transparency and risks disenfranchising eligible voters, and about their demand for Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. US Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal described the removal of 130 million voters as “anti-democratic” earlier this week.
The SIR dispute behind the protests
The protests were triggered by a September 23 Indian Express investigation reporting that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally objected at least 14 times over 10 months to SIR-linked decisions, saying some were taken without their knowledge. The Commission has said its decisions were approved by all three members. More than 130 million names were removed during the revision, which the Commission calls necessary for accurate rolls. The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to the Commission on a petition by Rahul Gandhi challenging voter deletions and alleged SIR irregularities.
Friday’s flashpoint: the ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ march
The immediate backdrop is the CJP’s planned ‘Lehra Do Tiranga’ protest at Connaught Place’s Central Park in Delhi at 5 pm on Friday, called after CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka were detained at Jantar Mantar on October 13 and remanded to judicial custody. On Thursday the Delhi High Court refused to restrain the protest, recording the police’s assurance that it would regulate the gathering; the case returns to court on November 3. The municipal council has closed Central Park to the public on October 16 and 17, and Delhi Police has imposed prohibitory orders in the Connaught Place area.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Hitman (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
The takeaway
With the Connaught Place protest due on Friday evening and the High Court set to revisit the matter on November 3, neither side is backing down. Each frames the row in the language of protecting democracy — the government warning of anarchy and regime-change politics, the opposition warning of electoral injustice — and the next round of street mobilisations will decide how the confrontation plays out.
Sources: The Week: ‘Regime change’ row escalates; ABP Live: Rajnath Singh slams INDIA bloc protest; ‘Inspired by Bangladesh’: The Indian Express on the Lucknow briefing; The Statesman: Delhi HC refuses to restrain CJP protest