'India is not Bangladesh or France': Shashi Tharoor rejects Kiren Rijiju's 'regime change' charge amid SIR row

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said the Opposition was demanding free and fair elections, not seeking to topple the government, as he rejected the BJP's comparison of protests in India with unrest in Bangladesh and France.**

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday rejected Union minister Kiren Rijiju's comparison of the ongoing protests over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls with unrest in Bangladesh and France, saying the Opposition was demanding free and fair elections and not seeking to topple the government.

"I think that India is not Bangladesh and India is not France. I don't see these analogies as particularly relevant," Tharoor told ANI, asserting that the Opposition supported peaceful protests and would not condone violence such as the burning of buses and police stations.

His remarks came a day after Rijiju alleged that "anti-India" groups and certain politicians had conspired to incite young people and trigger violence in India, drawing parallels with the unrest in Bangladesh and France.

Rejecting the allegations, Tharoor said there was no point in distorting the phrase "regime change" when the issue concerned the conduct of elections and the functioning of constitutional institutions.

"What we are calling for is free and fair elections," he said, alleging that large numbers of voters had been removed from electoral rolls through an irregular and partially illegal process.

Tharoor said the Opposition's concerns were constitutional rather than an attempt to bring down the government. He also clarified that his criticism was directed at the functioning of the Election Commission, not the institution itself.

What is 'Regime Change' row?

The controversy intensified after senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, during a press conference last week, described the agitation against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar as a battle for "regime change". All India Students' Association (AISA) leader Neha Bora had also referred to Bangladesh's Gen Z-led movement while expressing solidarity with student protesters there.

On Saturday, Rijiju shared a video montage of Opposition leaders and activists discussing regime change, warning that India was not Bangladesh. In another post on Sunday, he alleged that attempts were being made to provoke Bangladesh- and France-like unrest in India, asserting that any change of government must come through elections.

The exchange comes amid protests by the Congress, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and Left organisations demanding CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation over the SIR exercise.

The revision has seen more than 13 crore names dropped from draft electoral rolls across 30 states and Union Territories, according to data reported by The Indian Express. Opposition parties have questioned the scale of these exclusions and raised concerns over eligible voters being left out. The Election Commission has maintained that the exercise aims to ensure no eligible voter is excluded, and no ineligible person remains on the rolls.