Congress Misusing Democratic Rights to Undermine Institutions, Charges Kishan Reddy

Union minister for coal G. Kishan Reddy on Tuesday accused the Congress and its allies of misusing democratic rights to create unrest and pressure constitutional institutions. He said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Opposition parties should accept their electoral defeat instead of blaming the Election Commission of India (ECI), the judiciary, and the Centre.

Kishan Reddy in a statement, said the Congress leader was trying to weaken the country by creating anarchy in the name of protests. He alleged that Rahul Gandhi had made false claims earlier too, including during the last Lok Sabha elections, by saying the Constitution would be changed if the BJP came to power. He said Rahul Gandhi was repeating similar tactics ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections because his party was unable to mobilise public support.

Kishan Reddy also targeted Gandhi over his conduct during the Delhi protests, saying he climbed barricades and danced instead of behaving like the Leader of the Opposition. He alleged that Rahul Gandhi had made baseless claims after meeting the President, suggesting that she had accepted allegations of irregularities in the SIR process because she did not reject their memorandum. He alleged that Rahul Gandhi had earlier claimed former Union minister Manohar Parrikar had acknowledged irregularities in the Rafale aircraft deal, but Parrikar had clarified that the issue was never discussed. He said Rahul Gandhi had also made a false claim about speaking to the French President on the matter.

Kishan Reddy said the Congress-led protests in Delhi against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll had disturbed normal life during the festive season. He alleged that traders and small shopkeepers near Jantar Mantar had suffered losses because customers could not shop freely.

He asked why the Chief Election Commissioner or the Chief Justice of India should be held responsible for Congress’s poll setbacks. Kishan Reddy said elections were conducted under the Constitution drafted by Dr B.R. Ambedkar, and the people of India — not Rahul Gandhi or foreign forces — decide who will govern. He added that Congress had no right to treat the country as a family-run organisation.

Kishan Reddy defended the SIR, saying it was meant to remove duplicate, deceased, and illegally registered names from voter lists. He said 2.8 crore deceased voters, 6.3 crore people who had shifted residence, and one crore people registered in two places had been identified during the exercise.

He said Congress had booth level agents (BLAs) across the country and could use the existing mechanism to correct genuine errors. He asked why the party was protesting in Delhi instead of presenting evidence of wrongful deletions.

Kishan Reddy accused Congress of double standards, saying it sought the right to protest in Delhi but restricted BJP protests in Telangana. He alleged that the Revanth Reddy government used preventive arrests and denied permission for BJP programmes. He also criticised the Chief Minister for allegedly spreading claims that the votes of Dalits, Adivasis, minorities, and the poor were being deleted. Reddy said Congress was trying to divide people on caste, religion, language, and region.

Reddy questioned why Congress blamed EVMs and the SIR despite losing local body elections conducted through ballot papers in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Tripura. He asked how Congress had won elections in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Himachal Pradesh after the SIR began if the process was wrong. He said investors who had come to invest Rs 40,000 crore turned back in a single day and asked whether Rahul Gandhi would take credit for it.