Shashi Tharoor rejects ‘regime change’ charge as anti-EC protests continue

Shashi Tharoor said the Opposition's demand was rooted in concerns over electoral rolls and the process through which voters' names had allegedly been deleted.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday rejected the BJP's charge that the Opposition was seeking to bring about “regime change” in India, saying its demand was for free and fair elections and that the issue was constitutional, not an attempt to topple the government.

Shashi Tharoor said there was “no point distorting a phrase like ‘regime change.’” (ANI)

Responding to Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju's remarks, Tharoor said comparisons between India, Bangladesh and France were not relevant. He also distanced the Opposition from the violence witnessed in France, stressing that it believed in peaceful protests.

“I think that India is not Bangladesh and India is not France. I don't see these analogies as particularly relevant,” Tharoor said in Thiruvananthapuram.

“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,” he added.

The Congress MP said the Opposition's demand was rooted in concerns over electoral rolls and the process through which voters' names had allegedly been deleted. “What we are calling for is free and fair elections,” he said, adding that the issue was “a constitutional issue” and not an attempt to topple the government.

‘Not challenging institutions, but the way they are behaving’: Tharoor

Tharoor alleged that large numbers of people had been removed from electoral rolls through what he described as a “completely troublesome, irregular, and partially illegal process”. He was referring to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, against which the Opposition has raised concerns.

“This is why we are calling for all this to be undone,” he said, reiterating that the demand was not aimed at bringing down the government.

Tharoor also defended the Opposition's right to raise concerns about the functioning of constitutional institutions, particularly the Election Commission of India (ECI). He said the Opposition was questioning the way these institutions were conducting themselves, not challenging their existence.

“I'm not in any way challenging these institutions as institutions. I'm challenging the way they are behaving, the way they are conducting themselves,” he said.

He added that protecting democracy was the responsibility of every citizen. “Democracy is not a gift of anybody... we, the ordinary citizens of India, are the custodians of it,” Tharoor said, adding that every Indian citizen had the right to protect democracy.

The Congress MP said the Election Commission was expected to function in accordance with the Constitution. He described concerns over its conduct as an issue that all Indians should take seriously.

What Kiren Rijiju said about ‘regime change’

Tharoor's remarks came after Rijiju alleged that some “anti-India groups and politicians” had colluded to incite young people and spread violence in the country.

“Regime change in India is absolutely possible, but only through elections, not through Soros,” Rijiju said in a post on X.

In another post, the Union minister drew comparisons with the violence in Bangladesh and the riots, arson and looting in France, alleging that a similar conspiracy had been planned in India.

“The violent incident that occurred in Bangladesh and the riots, arson, and looting that took place in France, a similar conspiracy was hatched for India as well,” Rijiju wrote.

He alleged that “anti-India gangs”, along with some politicians, had colluded to incite young people and spread violence on the streets. Rijiju added that those behind the alleged conspiracy had forgotten that “India is neither Bangladesh nor France”.