Lucknow/New Delhi: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Friday attacked the Opposition Congress over protests against chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, accusing it of trying to seize power by spreading anarchy, even as the party hit back, saying it wanted to defeat the BJP through democratic means and not extra-constitutional methods.
Today Rahul Gandhi keeps the Constitution in his pocket and tries to spread anarchy. Congress MP Pawan Khera rejected the allegations, accusing the BJP of treating protests as anti-national when it faced public criticism. “The BJP is not used to democracy when it is on the receiving end of it. “They openly say at press conferences that they have drawn inspiration from Bangladesh for regime change, while another speaks openly about bringing down the government. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh invoked former president Pranab Mukherjee’s words on the Opposition’s role. He also accused the Congress of making the Election Commission of India (ECI) its puppet. Congress elevated him to the post of the chief election commissioner. Singh also pointed out that former CEC MS Gill had become a Union minister twice. Was this vote theft or failure to work? Rahul Gandhi should answer.”
This makes it clear that their only agenda is to dismantle democratic institutions and set the country on fire,” he said, referring to the uprising in Bangladesh in 2024 that toppled the Sheikh Hasina government. Referring to the Emergency in 1975, he said, “In 1975 [Prime Minister] Indira Gandhi put democracy behind bars [during the state of Emergency]. “There was a recommendation to remove Naveen Chawla as an election commissioner [in 2009] over the allegation that he shared information with Congress. Singh cited Congress’s vote theft allegation and said it won in the Uttar Pradesh assembly election last in 1985. “Congress has not got a majority since 1984, when BJP was a two-seat party.
When it has to face the heat of democracy, answer questions and confront protests, democracy suddenly begins to look like treason and anti-national activity to them,” he said. “It appears that the Congress and its political allies, directly and through their supporting organisations, are trying to use the energy of the youth to fuel political confrontation and spread anarchy instead of channelling it towards constructive work and nation-building,” he said. “The youth of the country are being made pawns in the politics of anarchy,” he added. “The Defence Minister needs to be reminded of what the former President Pranab Mukherjee, who was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2019, would often say: the job of the Opposition in a democracy is to oppose, expose and depose,” he said. Singh, meanwhile, said the Congress was hurting the Constitution, constitutional values and institutions.
