Rajnath Singh accuses Congress of attempting regime change through violence

LUCKNOW — Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday accused the Congress party of attempting to orchestrate a “regime change by unleashing violence” in the country, drawing parallels to the recent political upheaval in Bangladesh.

Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, Singh asserted that the opposition party’s ongoing protests against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls are fundamentally aimed at destabilising the government rather than addressing procedural electoral concerns.

“Congress wants to follow the Bangladesh model of violence for regime change. Congress protest is not against Gyanesh Kumar and SIR but against democracy to topple government,” Singh said.

The ministerial remarks come amid heightened political friction over opposition demonstrations directed at the poll body and CEC Gyanesh Kumar. Singh alleged that the protests were an “attempt to weaken institutions” that operate independently, rather than a genuine dispute over voter lists.

Directing his criticism at Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader maintained that constitutional democracy does not grant anyone the license to resort to violence. “Rahul is doing the politics of disruption,” Singh added.

Recalling historical electoral reforms, Singh alleged that the Congress party had historically sought to compromise the autonomy of the Election Commission during its own tenure in power. He claimed that the opposition party had turned the poll body into a “puppet” and instituted overnight changes in 1993.

Citing past instances, Singh stated that a former Chief Election Commissioner had previously recommended to the President of India that then-election commissioner Naveen Chawla be removed, but the Congress administration instead elevated him to the post of Chief Election Commissioner.

Defending the integrity of contemporary electoral processes, the defence minister also credited past systemic reforms with altering political outcomes. He noted that prior to 1993, India lacked a standardised voter identity card system to verify electors. Following the nationwide rollout of voter ID cards, Singh claimed, the Congress party has not managed to form a single-party majority government on its own.