Guwahati, Oct 17: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday alleged that “anti-national forces” were attempting to overthrow the government through street protests and seize power by what he described as anarchist and undemocratic means. He claimed that those unable to secure the people’s mandate were now seeking to engineer a regime change.
In a post on X, Sarma urged citizens to identify individuals featured in videos he shared, alleging they were part of a coordinated plan to destabilize the country. “Anti-national forces who cannot win the people’s mandate are now on the streets to effectively engineer a regime change operation. Their only mission is to overthrow the Govt by anarchist means and grab power by book or crook,” he wrote.
Sarma asserted that India’s democracy remained strong and rooted in public support, citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s repeated electoral victories. “Our democracy runs on the will of the people, and that will is firmly with the Govt and Adarniya @narendramodi ji who has been blessed thrice by the people of Bharat,” he said, adding that citizens would resist attempts to undermine the government.
The remarks followed Sarma’s post featuring senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, who on Thursday openly called for a regime change, accusing the Modi-led government of “crushing electoral democracy.” Bhushan, addressing a press conference in New Delhi, rejected the charge that the opposition was plotting an undemocratic takeover, insisting that advocating for regime change was a democratic right. “We are only appealing to save electoral democracy in this country. Regime change is a democratic right of every citizen, and creating disaffection against the government is not an offence,” Bhushan said.
He further argued that the government was eroding fundamental rights and could not continue in its current form. “Such a government cannot continue, which is hell-bent on crushing the electoral democracy in the country and continues to play with the fundamental rights of citizens,” Bhushan added.