Under pressure over CEC-SIR row, Modi govt sends in its ministers to hit back

Facing protests on the streets and elsewhere, it seems like the Modi government has sent its ministers to defend it. Opposition parties, student bodies and civil society activists are demanding the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, a rollback of the SIR and repeal of the 2023 law on appointing election commissioners. The response from the government and the NDA: attack the Congress, CJP and its allies for “spreading anarchy” and plotting a Bangladesh-style regime change.

Rajnath Singh, Piyush Goyal, Chirag Paswan, Sukanta Majumdar, JD(U)’s Rajiv Ranjan Singh and the BJP’s Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi were among those who rushed to defend the government and the CEC.

'Using youth's energy to spread anarchy': Rajnath

Union Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday (October 16) lashed out at the Congress and its allies over the protests in the national capital, accusing them of seeking a regime change along the lines of Bangladesh and using the energy of youth to spread "anarchy" instead of channelling it towards constructive work and nation-building.

“The youth of the country are being made pawns in the politics of anarchy," the defence minister said.

Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, Singh asserted that democracy does not give anyone the licence to create disorder or undermine the credibility of constitutional institutions.

"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. 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.

Singh said Mahatma Gandhi had suspended the entire non-cooperation movement following the violence at Chauri Chaura. However, the Congress, which claims to be Gandhi's political heir, wants to "avenge" its electoral defeats on the country by talking about a change of government through "violence and anarchy", he said, calling it "the height of the decline in the Congress's moral values".

Also Read: SIR row: DMK demands CEC’s removal, slams Congress for ‘double standards’

"The Congress wants to push the country into the fire of violence and anarchy and is dreaming of creating a situation similar to Bangladesh. In view of this, I can say that the Congress has completely lost the moral right to use Gandhi's name," the defence minister said.

Singh said the use of terms such as "regime change" showed that the opposition's campaign was not about electoral reforms or issues related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

India's future is everyone's responsibility. We must choose the path of dialogue and nation-building, not confrontation," Singh said.

The minister also questioned the Congress's allegations of vote theft, saying the party had failed to win a majority on its own for decades. He said the Congress last formed a government in Uttar Pradesh in 1985.

"After 1984, the Congress did not get a majority at the Centre. At that time, the BJP was a party with just two seats. Was it vote theft or failure to deliver? Rahul Gandhi should answer this," he said.

He also claimed that the Congress had not filed a single formal appeal against the electoral rolls, alleging that it had no evidence to support its charges.

Singh said the BJP had never questioned constitutional institutions or the country's electoral system, and accused the Congress of attempting to mislead people by casting doubts on these institutions.

Piyush Goyal accuses Congress of ‘bribery’

Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Rajiv Ranjan Singh on Tuesday (October 13) decried Rahul Gandhi’s anti-CEC street protests as "childish behaviour", and asked the Congress leader to "introspect" and stop spreading anarchy in the country.

Addressing a joint press conference with Singh, a JD(U) leader, at the BJP headquarters, Goyal rejected Gandhi's "vote chori" charge as "baseless". He asserted that the NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership has given "complete autonomy" to the Election Commission to function in the interest of the people and the country.

The NDA government has never tried to give any "political benefit" to any of the election commissioners, unlike Congress which "rewarded" one of the chief election commissioners (CECs) with a cabinet berth and made two of them governors during its rule, the senior BJP leader said. Goyal referred to former CEC TN Seshan’s candidature on a Congress ticket in the 1999 Lok Sabha election against BJP veteran LK Advani.

The commerce minister also questioned the Padma Vibhushan conferred to MS Gill in 2000, while he was still the sitting Chief Election Commissioner.

“Was this not an inducement? Was it not, in effect, a form of bribery?’ asked Goyal.

"If Rahul Gandhi has the proof of 'vote chori', why hasn't he given it to the Court of the Election Commission?" the BJP leader asked.

Hitting out at the Congress, Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh said the opposition party should realise that its attempts to create anarchy on a baseless "vote chori" charge are causing harm to the "country, democracy, and constitutional institutions".

Also Read: SC to hear plea challenging validity of 2023 law granting immunity to CEC, ECs

“Spreading anarchy is not the opposition's role. Do not spread anarchy. Let constitutional bodies do their work. Do not try to denigrate them, pressure them,” the senior JD(U) leader said.

Singh also asked Rahul why he did not provide any evidence of alleged "vote chori" to President Droupadi Murmu when he met her along with other INDIA bloc leaders recently.

"Rahul Gandhi is following the footsteps of his 'daadi' (paternal grandmother), who had demolished the Constitution to save her seat in power," the senior JD(U) leader said in an apparent reference to the imposition of Emergency by the Indira Gandhi government in 1975.

Goyal alleged that the Congress appointed CECs whosoever they wanted to hold the post when the party was in power at the Centre.

"It is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government which brought in a legal provision for appointment of the CEC and election commissioners in 2023. A new law was enacted under which the leader of the opposition was made a member of the selection committee," he said.

Goyal said several Congress leaders had earlier demanded cleansing of electoral rolls, claiming the existence of duplicate and dead voters' names in the list at various locations.

"And, when the SIR (Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls) has done it, the Congress is opposing it," he said, slamming the opposition party for taking a "U-turn" on the issue.

Goyal also claimed that when the Congress won the Kerala assembly polls, several leaders of the party gave credit to the SIR for the victory.

"When they are winning, the Election Commission is doing a good job and the elections are perfect. When they are losing, the elections are rigged," Goyal charged.

"For this, youngsters say: 'Delulu is the solulu, which means those living in delusion find a solution in their delusion. This is the Congress's mindset. That's why people don't like them and repeatedly defeat them (in elections)," he added.

‘Trying to create anarchy just like France and Italy’: Chirag Paswan

Union Minister of Food Processing Industries and national president of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) Chirag Paswan on Sunday (October 18) charged the Congress with trying to create anarchy in the country, "just like France and Italy", by advocating "regime change" through street protests.

"In a democratic country like India, it is highly objectionable that the main opposition party is speaking of a regime change (through street protests). They should know that wherever such things have taken place, these have been sponsored by foreign powers and caused anarchy", Paswan told reporters.

Also Read: Kharge demands CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s removal over SIR, seeks PM Modi’s resignation

Without mentioning AISA’s Neha Bora by name, the union minister also asked, "What does the opposition party want to prove by making its poster girl an activist who is full of praise for what happened in Bangladesh? Does the opposition want to see here the same anarchy that has been witnessed in Nepal and Bangladesh, and, more recently, in France and Italy?"

The opposition must remember that in India, whenever there has been a regime change, it has been through free and fair elections, he said.

"Their spokespersons must give up trying to defend anarchy," said the minister.

‘Govts are changed by power of ballot, not by threat of bullets’: Naqvi

Senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on October 18 accused the opposition of pushing for a "regime change" and asserted that in India, governments are chosen and changed by the "power of ballot", not by the "threat of bullets".

Speaking to reporters in Delhi, Naqvi claimed that some political parties were in the grip of a "regime change craze".

"Barring the period of barbarity during the 1975-77 Emergency, in 18 general elections and hundreds of Assembly, Panchayat, and local body elections, the people made 'ballot' as their weapon of mandate, not bullets," the former Union minister said.

Also Read: SC questions Form 6 revision, orders EC to produce records on CEC’s decisions

Naqvi said the "national and international investors and sponsors" of the ongoing "anarchy, arrogance and chaos for regime change will be disappointed".

"The lobby looking to lynch people's mandate, is trying to put a gun to the head of democracy, and they will be wiped out," Naqvi said.

The BJP leader said the "sinister syndicate" must understand that the "conspiracy to defame, disturb, denigrate, and destabilise the power of people's mandate through mischief at Jantar Mantar" will be defeated.

‘Attempt to destabilise nation’: Sukanta Majumdar

Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar on October 10 said the protests against the CEC were an attempt to “destabilise” the nation, and targeted the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) over ”funding”.

“Our opposition leaders have such stained faces that they can’t come forward. Everyone knows where CJP is getting its funding and strength from,” said Majumdar.