New Delhi:
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has responded to Union minister Kiren Rijiju's comments on comparing India and Bangladesh amid the war of words over a narrative of "regime change".
Earlier, Rijiju had launched a counter attack on the Opposition Congress and 29-year-old student activist from JNU Neha Bora, who did mention "regime change" while criticising the Centre over the voter roll cleanup exercise Special Intensive Revision (SIR), alleging it was meant to remove voters.
Sharing a montage of video clips on X where many leaders allied with the Opposition forces had at different points of time spoken about "regime change", Rijiju wrote, "Look at these people, trying to bring about a regime change. Listen carefully: India is not Bangladesh."
"Indian youth are not fools; they will build India, not destroy it. Genuine Indian youth are winning medals, leading the way in skill development, innovation, startups, and technology - and becoming cultural icons," he added.
बड़े आए "Regime Change" करने वाले !! कान खोलकर सुन लो, भारत बांग्लादेश नहीं है! Indian youth are not fools, they will build India, not destroy India. All genuine Indian youth are winning medals, steering in skilling, innovation, startups, technology & becoming cultural icons! https://t.co/cf9YFjIpZj
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) October 17, 2026
The clip contained snippets of quotes by Neha Bora and senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan, among others, who mentioned regime change in the context of criticising the BJP-led Centre.
Wading into the controversy, Tharoor today sought to downplay the comments made by people who were friendly to the Congress.
"I think that India is not Bangladesh and India is not France. I don't see these analogies as particularly relevant. We would never condone any of the violence, setting alight buses and police stations and so on, that has occurred in France," the former diplomat said, also referring to the riots in France over a rise in cost of living and other issues.
Tharoor said the Opposition believes in and supports only peaceful protest.
"As far as the larger issues are concerned, there's no point distorting a phrase like regime change and so on... What we are calling for is free and fair elections. What is troubling today is that large numbers of people have been cut from the electoral rolls as the result of a completely troublesome, irregular and partially illegal process. This is why we are calling for all this to be undone... It's a constitutional issue. It's not an issue of trying to topple a regime or anything like that," Tharoor said.
In Bangladesh, before Sheikh Hasina was ousted as prime minister, she had complained of a "white man's" plot to carve out a Christian nation out of her country and Myanmar. After she left her country amid protests and destruction, her son Sajeeb Wazed had blamed the previous US government for spending "millions of dollars on regime change" in his country.
Many BJP leaders have attacked the Congress over the "regime change" narrative. The Congress, Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and the Left are holding protests in Delhi demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in connection with alleged removal of over 13 crore voters under the SIR exercise.
The CJP has the backing of the Opposition parties and is led by a foreign-educated public relations graduate and a few others who have openly supported the Congress and its leaders including Rahul Gandhi. They had protested over the NEET exam paper leak which eventually forced Dharmendra Pradhan to resign as Union Education Minister.
The Election Commission of India has denied all the allegations on the SIR.