P Chidambaram Defends ‘Regime Change’ Remark, Hits Back at BJP’s Outrage

Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday defended the use of the phrase “regime change”, describing it as a normal political process in a democracy, amid an escalating war of words between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Questioning the BJP’s reaction to the phrase, Chidambaram asked why the ruling party was displaying what he described as “feigned rage” over its use in a democratic system.
In a post on X, Chidambaram wrote, “Why is the BJP apoplectic with feigned rage on the use of the phrase ‘regime change’? ‘Regime change’ is normal in a democracy.”
He further asserted that the Opposition’s responsibility was to challenge the government politically, expose its actions in Parliament and seek its removal through elections.
“The duty of the Opposition is to ‘oppose, expose and depose’ the government, which means: oppose in politics, expose in Parliament and depose through elections,” the post read.
Chidambaram’s remarks came a day after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh accused the Congress and its allies of attempting to replicate a Bangladesh-style political upheaval in India. Singh alleged that the protests were intended to create unrest rather than address electoral reforms.
Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, Singh said the agitation was not genuinely about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls or the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, but about using young people to advance a political agenda.
“Attempts are being made to use the nation's youth as pawns in a politics of chaos. Some seek a regime change-modelled after the events in Bangladesh-openly admitting that they drew inspiration from the situation in Bangladesh; others, meanwhile, brazenly call for the toppling of the government. This makes it clear that their sole agenda is to dismantle democratic institutions and set the country ablaze...their struggle is not for electoral reform, nor is it about SIR or Gyanesh Kumar; it is not for the sake of a bright future for the nation's youth-rather, it is a conspiracy to seize power by inciting anarchy in the country,” Singh said.
The controversy erupted after senior advocate Prashant Bhushan described the ongoing agitation against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar as a “fight for regime change”. All India Students' Association (AISA) president Neha Bora also referred to the Gen Z movement in Bangladesh.
The BJP has interpreted these remarks as evidence of an attempt to bring down the Narendra Modi government outside the electoral process. The Opposition has rejected the allegation, intensifying the political confrontation over the meaning and implications of the phrase “regime change” in a democratic system.