“Congress is a Threat to Democracy”: JP Nadda Slams Opposition Over Electoral Distrust

Union Minister JP Nadda on Wednesday accused the Congress of fostering distrust in institutions out of frustration at its electoral losses, saying “the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi have become major threats to democracy.”

He was speaking at the BJP’s “Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao” (Save Democracy, Eliminate Anarchy) march in Bhopal, which ran from Atal Path to Roshanpura Square. “The irresponsible attitude being displayed by the opposition and the Congress party is serving to create instability in the country,” he said. “The Congress is doing this solely because they lack public support. That is why they are blaming the Election Commission.”

THE BJP'S CAMPAIGN

The march is part of a counter-campaign the BJP launched to answer the Congress’s criticism of the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The party held similar marches in Indore on October 30 and Jabalpur on November 2, and Nadda addressed one in Bareilly on Tuesday. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and state BJP president Hemant Khandelwal were among those expected to take part in Bhopal.

The Opposition has spent the past weeks protesting against the SIR and demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The Election Commission has rejected allegations of wrongdoing.

“WHEN THEY WIN, EVERYTHING IS FINE”

Nadda accused the Opposition of double standards. “When they win, like in Himachal or Kerala, everything is fine; but when they lose elsewhere, they label the Election Commission as dishonest,” he said.

In India, he said, Booth Level Officers go door to door to help people register to vote, while in the US midterm elections people have to register themselves. “The Election Commission even went deep into the forest to ensure that Mahant Haridas Udasi could cast his vote. This is the strength of the Election Commission, something we must recognise.”

ON EVMS AND THE EMERGENCY

Nadda said the Commission had invited parties to take part in a hackathon on voting machines, and asked: “Where did the Congress party members run off to then? That is the current state of the Congress.” On the debate over EVMs and ballot papers, he said: “The Congress party managed to win only one seat back when ballot papers were used. I would advise Rahul Baba to stop worrying about EVMs and instead engage in self-reflection; look within.”

Recalling the Emergency, he said: “I am a victim of the Emergency myself; the police took me away right from my classroom. Entire families were thrown into jail. You simply do not know how to win people’s hearts.”

"PM MODI RESIDES IN THE HEARTS OF INDIANS"

Nadda rejected claims of voter manipulation by pointing to the scale of the exercise. “Narendra Modi resides in the hearts of India’s 1.4 billion people,” he said. “1,024,000 officers were deployed. Approximately 1.27 million BLOs were engaged by the Election Commission.”

He also said that a large number of fake voters had been registered and were later struck off. “In Bengal, there was a 66% increase in the number of voters between 2004 and 2024,” he said.

With inputs from ANI