Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has rejected comparisons between India and Bangladesh after Union minister Kiren Rijiju accused Opposition figures and activists of pushing a “regime change” agenda during protests over voter-roll revisions. Tharoor said India was neither Bangladesh nor France and stressed that the Opposition supported peaceful demonstrations rather than violence or attempts to topple the government outside elections.
In a post on X on October 17, Rijiju shared video clips of Opposition-linked figures and said India’s youth would build the country through sport, skills, innovation, startups and technology rather than destroy it.
Tharoor said the Opposition’s demand was for free and fair elections and the restoration of names removed through what he described as a troublesome, irregular and partly unlawful process. He framed the dispute as a constitutional question about voting rights, not an effort to remove the government through unrest. In a separate discussion, he called for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign and cited alleged deletion problems in West Bengal, Bihar and Goa, including difficulties for election officials trying to restore names because of software issues.
The political dispute has unfolded alongside a nationwide campaign against the voter-roll revision. Opposition parties and youth groups have demanded Kumar’s resignation and an end to the removals, while the Election Commission and government have rejected allegations of political manipulation, saying the exercise is intended to eliminate duplicate and ineligible entries.
The protests have included the brief detention of Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi, demonstrations by Congress lawmakers and student groups, and a Bengaluru rally attended by thousands. Protesters say the deletion process could disenfranchise eligible voters and that the appeal requirements are difficult for people who lack older government records. The campaign has therefore expanded the argument beyond the wording of “regime change” into a broader fight over election administration, access to the rolls and accountability before upcoming votes.