Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh accused Congress of using the protests against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as a conspiracy to grab power. Speaking in Lucknow, Singh alleged that the opposition party was trying to drive the country towards anarchy and destroy its constitutional institutions.

This fight is not for electoral reforms, not for SIR, not against Gyanesh Kumar, not for bright future of youth. It is a conspiracy to grab power. Democracy does not give license to spread anarchy and destroy constitutional institutions, Singh said.

The comments came after days of protests demanding the removal of CEC Kumar and the discontinuation of the SIR, with protesters raising objections to the conduct of the Election Commission of India.

Rajnath Singh asks Rahul Gandhi to rethink

Singh accused Congress of maligning constitutional institutions for their political gains and asked Rahul Gandhi to rethink the policies of his party. The BJP believes in peace and dialogue, not confrontation for the country's progress, Singh said.

The defense minister said that the current wave of protests was the fourth "unpardonable crime" of the Congress party against the Constitution, its ideals and institutions.

Singh recalled the declaration of the Emergency by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975 and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, saying that these were serious crimes committed by the Congress government.

He also accused the Congress of being responsible for the events that led to the creation of the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh after the 1990 police firing on volunteers who had assembled in Ayodhya in the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi movement.

Allegations against the Election Commission of India

Singh claimed that in the past, Congress had tried to influence the Election Commission. In 2009, when the CEC Naveen Chawla was appointed, there had been allegations against him as an election commissioner.

Singh said that after the Congress came to power, former chief election commissioner MS Gill was appointed as a minister in the UPA government. Didn't the Congress question the integrity of the election commission? Singh asked.

He also said that the introduction of voter identity cards was related to the Congress' defeat in the parliamentary elections. They cannot say that their loss in the elections was due to vote theft, the minister argued.

Singh questions Congress' electoral performance

Singh cited the poor performance of the Congress in the 2014 elections, saying that it had not been able to win more than 10 per cent of the seats in the Lok Sabha since 1984.

The Congress did not win even one seat in UP after the 2014 elections. If Rahul Gandhi wants to contest the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat, will he not need the support of the Samajwadi Party? Singh questioned.

Reiterating his accusation, Singh said that democracy does not allow political parties to promote violence and vitiate the atmosphere. His comments add to the growing row over the SIR, the Election Commission and the alleged rigging of the polls.