Regime Change Row: Congress Counters BJP, Protests Over CEC & Bangladesh Analogy Escalate

A major political row has erupted between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party over calls for regime change. Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram defended the term, asserting that regime change is entirely normal in a democracy and explaining that the role of an opposition is to oppose in politics, expose in Parliament, and depose through elections. The Congress maintained that seeking government change through democratic processes and elections aligns fully with democratic principles. In contrast, the ruling BJP, including Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Rajnath Singh, accused the opposition of using the youth as pawns to destabilise the government, drawing comparisons to violent protests and regime changes witnessed in Bangladesh and Nepal. Demonstrators have also sought the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, while opposition leaders like Pawan Khera and P. Chidambaram insisted that the protests remain rooted in legitimate, democratic methods to hold the incumbent regime accountable.