New Delhi: The war of words over alleged vote theft escalated sharply on Monday as BJP national spokesperson C R Kesavan accused the Congress of turning into a breeding ground for forces trying to destabilise Indian democracy.
Speaking to the media in the national capital, Kesavan said the Congress was no longer the party of the freedom movement but had turned into what he called a “toxic breeding ground for anti-national agents of anarchy”, hatching a conspiracy to overturn Indian democracy.
The remarks were a direct response to Rahul Gandhi’s sharp attack on Sunday at a public meeting in Margao, Goa, during the 25th day of the Congress’s Goy Rakhonn Yatra, where the Leader of Opposition alleged that CEC Gyanesh Kumar, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and PM Narendra Modi were together orchestrating “vote theft”.
Kesavan: SIR is a smokescreen
Kesavan alleged that the Congress’s campaign around the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was only a smokescreen. The real agenda, he claimed, was to revive Rahul Gandhi’s political career by targeting constitutional institutions.
“The Compromise Congress has now become a toxic breeding ground for anti-national agents of anarchy, hatching a very sinister conspiracy to overturn Indian democracy,” Kesavan said. “And it is now very disturbingly clear that, for the Congress Party, the SIR process was just a smokescreen, a convenient camouflage, and the real hidden agenda of the Congress Party was to somehow prop up Rahul Gandhi’s doomed political career by wrecking Indian democracy.”
He added that the Congress leadership was using street protests and daily allegations to keep the narrative alive, even as, in the BJP’s view, the party’s objections to the electoral roll revision lacked any solid basis.
The Soros and Pitroda charge
In a fresh twist, Kesavan also dragged Congress leader Sam Pitroda into the row, alleging that the chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress and a long-time mentor of Rahul Gandhi was welcoming money from billionaire investor George Soros into India.
“Everybody knows that George Soros is a notorious anti-India baiter. Yet Sam Pitroda, the mentor of Rahul Gandhi and the chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress, is welcoming George Soros’s money into India,” Kesavan alleged.
The BJP has raised the Soros issue repeatedly in the past. The Congress has so far not responded to the latest set of allegations.
What triggered the fresh clash
The Congress has accused the poll body of removing large numbers of genuine voters from the rolls through what it calls a troublesome process, and has demanded CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.
The bigger row: Rajnath’s “regime change” barb and Congress’s reply
Kesavan’s broadside is part of a wider BJP counter-offensive that began on Friday, when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh accused the Congress and its allies of seeking a “regime change on the lines of Bangladesh” through the anti-SIR protests.
Speaking at a press conference in Lucknow, Singh had pointed to remarks by activist Prashant Bhushan and student leader Neha Bora, saying they showed the protests were aimed at creating unrest rather than electoral reform. “Regime change is being pursued on the lines of Bangladesh,” Singh had said, accusing the opposition of trying to use the energy of the youth to spread anarchy.
The Congress pushed back on Monday. Party MP Shashi Tharoor, speaking in Thiruvananthapuram, said India was neither Bangladesh nor France and rejected any comparison with violent uprisings abroad. “We would never condone any of the violence, setting alight buses and police stations and so on, that has occurred in France. We only believe in peaceful protest,” Tharoor said, adding that the opposition’s demand was simply for free and fair elections.
- The charge: BJP says Congress is running a “sinister conspiracy” against Indian democracy.
- The defence: Congress says it only wants free and fair elections and a clean voter roll.
- The flashpoint: The Election Commission’s SIR exercise and the demand for CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.
- The new angle: Allegations around George Soros, Sam Pitroda and foreign funding.
What happens next
With neither side backing down, the confrontation is set to dominate the political narrative in the coming days. Whether it stays a war of words or escalates further will depend on how the Election Commission responds to the opposition’s demands.
FAQs
Q: What did C R Kesavan say about the Congress?
A: He accused the Congress of becoming a “toxic breeding ground for anti-national agents of anarchy” and alleged a conspiracy to overturn Indian democracy.
Q: Why did Kesavan mention George Soros?
A: He alleged that Congress leader Sam Pitroda, whom he described as Rahul Gandhi’s mentor, was welcoming Soros’s money into India.
Q: What is the SIR row about?
A: The Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, which the Congress alleges has wrongly removed large numbers of voters. The party has demanded CEC Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.
Q: How did the Congress respond to the “regime change” charge?
A: Shashi Tharoor said India is neither Bangladesh nor France, rejected any call for violence, and said the opposition only demands free and fair elections through peaceful protest.
Q: What triggered Monday’s exchange?
A: Rahul Gandhi’s Sunday rally in Goa, where he accused the CEC, the Home Minister and the Prime Minister of orchestrating “vote theft”.
The battle lines over electoral integrity are now firmly drawn, and the coming days will show whether Delhi’s political temperature cools down or heats up further.
