BJP’s ‘Foreign Hand’ Charge: Nitin Nabin accuses opposition leaders and CJP of attempting to destabilise the country. (Img: X)
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) of attempting to destabilise the country with alleged backing from foreign powers, as a sweeping security operation and mass detentions marked the planned protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi.
BJP president Nitin Nabin levelled the allegations at a press conference, accusing the opposition of exploiting public discontent over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to undermine constitutional institutions and disrupt the country’s progress. He warned that the government would act firmly against forces seeking to create unrest, whether operating within India or abroad.
Nabin alleged that two groups were seeking to foment instability: the Congress-led INDIA bloc under Rahul Gandhi and the CJP, which he linked to Kejriwal’s associates. He accused the opposition leaders of competing to demonstrate who could generate greater political instability, claiming that their actions were driven by electoral setbacks and frustration rather than a genuine commitment to democratic principles.
The BJP president further alleged that opposition leaders were pursuing their political objectives at the behest of foreign powers and warned that their attempts to challenge constitutional institutions would face a response from both the government and BJP workers.
“The Government of India will deal with it strictly,” Nabin said, adding that the BJP would work among the public to counter what he described as attempts to destabilise the country.
The BJP also raised questions about the financial resources available to CJP leaders and their alleged international links. Party sources questioned how the organisation’s members were financing travel across the country and pointed to the backgrounds of CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and activist Dhruv Rathee.
A BJP leader alleged that the protest campaign was part of a broader effort coordinated from abroad and sought to connect the controversy with the Congress’s alleged links to foreign donors.
These allegations were advanced by BJP leaders and had not been independently established. The Ministry of Home Affairs had also not publicly responded to the specific allegations at the time of reporting.
The allegations came amid reports of extensive preparations by the Centre and state police forces ahead of the CJP’s October 10 demonstration at Jantar Mantar. According to a report citing sources, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan met several state police chiefs and select police commissioners on October 4 to discuss measures to prevent people who had participated in earlier protests from travelling to Delhi. The meeting reportedly included discussions about issuing notices, preventive detentions where necessary and examining protesters’ sources of funding.
A subsequent meeting was reportedly held on October 8 to review preparations. In Maharashtra, police units were issued instructions to discourage potential protesters from travelling to Delhi, while Mumbai Police detained more than 200 people on Friday, according to sources cited in the report.
The Ministry of Home Affairs did not respond to a request for comment. The reported instructions and their implementation have not been independently verified beyond the newspaper’s account.
The CJP called the demonstration to demand Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise and concerns about the deletion of names from electoral rolls. The campaign gained momentum following reports of disagreements within the Election Commission over decisions concerning the revision process.
The CJP has alleged that the exercise threatens eligible voters’ rights and sought greater transparency and accountability in the functioning of the poll body. The Election Commission, meanwhile, has defended the revision process as part of its responsibility to maintain accurate electoral rolls.
The BJP has rejected the opposition’s allegations and maintained that its electoral victories reflect public support for the government. The police denied permission for the proposed gathering, citing security and public-order concerns. The restrictions and detentions subsequently triggered a wider debate over the right to peaceful protest and the proportionality of preventive measures affecting citizens’ movement.
The BJP’s allegations have revived a longstanding political refrain in India, with successive governments invoking the possibility of foreign interference during periods of domestic unrest. A media report noted that the expression has been used across political eras, including during the Emergency, the Bofors controversy, protests against nuclear power projects and the 2021 farmers’ agitation.
In the present dispute, the BJP has framed the CJP mobilisation as an attempt to undermine national stability, while the protesters and opposition leaders maintain that their campaign concerns electoral transparency and democratic accountability.
The allegations of foreign involvement remain unsubstantiated in the publicly available information cited in these reports. The political confrontation continues to centre on competing claims about the Election Commission, the legitimacy of the SIR exercise and the limits of state action against planned demonstrations.
