'Will oppose, expose and depose': Opposition comes out all guns blazing against Rajnath Singh's 'regime change' charge

The Opposition Congress and Samajwadi Party, on Friday, launched a sharp attack on Defence Minister Rajnath Singh over his allegation that the Opposition was trying to bring about a regime change in India along the lines of Bangladesh.

Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh invoked former President Pranab Mukherjee's description of the Opposition's role in a democracy. "The defence minister needs to be reminded of what the former President Pranab Mukherjee, who was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2019, would often say: the job of the Opposition in a democracy is to oppose, expose and depose," Ramesh said, according to PTI.

The Congress clarified that it was openly campaigning for a change of government and that its objective was to achieve this through elections.

Earlier in the day, Singh accused the Congress and its allies of attempting to exploit the energy of young people to create political unrest rather than directing it towards constructive activities and nation-building.

According to the defence minister, the Congress and its political allies, both directly and through organisations supporting them, appeared to be encouraging political confrontation and anarchy.
"The youth of the country are being made pawns in the politics of anarchy," Singh alleged.

His remarks prompted strong reactions from opposition leaders, who rejected the claim that campaigning for a change of government amounted to promoting anarchy.

Congress MP Pawan Khera questioned why Singh had raised objections to the Opposition's demand for a change of government when the Congress had already made its political intentions clear.

"We are running a campaign 'Vote Chor Gaddi Chhodd'. The entire country is saying this openly. We ourselves are reiterating our intent that we have to defeat this Govt and change this system. So, why did Rajnath Singh come forward," Khera asked.

He argued that seeking to remove the government was a fundamental part of democratic politics and that the Opposition intended to pursue this objective through elections.

"We ourselves are saying that we would change the regime...The intent of the Opposition is always to change the regime through elections," he said.

Khera also accused the ruling party of becoming uncomfortable with democratic opposition. "They are not habitual of democracy anymore," he remarked.

Samajwadi Party MP Awadhesh Prasad also dismissed the defence minister's allegations, particularly his claim that opposition parties were using young people for political purposes. "The defence minister's allegation is baseless. The youth are the architects of the nation," Prasad said.

Congress MP Sasikanth Senthil also criticised Singh, arguing that the defence minister's response failed to address the concerns being raised beyond the Congress party.

"Rajnath Singh has only one answer, and that is directed towards the Congress party. Fine. But what about the rest who are asking these questions?" Senthil asked.

He said political parties holding power had a responsibility to serve the people rather than dictate how citizens should express their concerns. "You cannot be dictating terms to the country. You are a political party put in that position to render service, and you have to deal with things with that sense in your mind," he said, according to news agency ANI.

Senthil accused the government of attempting to suppress democratic voices and warned of consequences if such an approach continued.

"I see this as an absolute quelling of democratic voices, and if they continue doing this, it is going to lead to a problem," he said.