BJP's Trivedi fires back after Kharge calls Modi govt 'illegal'
Synopsis
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called the Modi government 'illegal' and demanded fresh polls — and BJP's Sudhanshu Trivedi came back swinging, questioning the legitimacy of Kharge's own party election and listing every major state Congress has failed to win in decades. The exchange lays bare how far India's two largest national parties are from any common democratic ground.
Key Takeaways
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge reportedly declared all recent elections 'illegal' on 3 October , demanding fresh polls via ballot papers.
BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi called the remarks an insult to the democratic mandate of the Indian people.
Trivedi highlighted that the BJP under PM Modi was the first non-Congress party to win a clear Parliamentary majority, starting in 2014 .
Trivedi alleged Kharge's own internal Congress president election was procedurally irregular, as the party allegedly withheld the Electoral College list from its own leaders.
Congress has not won in Tamil Nadu since 1967 , West Bengal since 1977 , and has been absent from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar since 1990 , according to Trivedi.
The BJP has demanded a public apology from the entire Congress party.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament Sudhanshu Trivedi on Sunday, 4 October 2026, hit back sharply at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge after Kharge reportedly demanded the dissolution of the Lok Sabha and all state Assemblies, declaring that all recent elections were 'illegal' and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and all BJP chief ministers held their offices illegally. Trivedi called Kharge's remarks an insult to the democratic mandate of the Indian people.
What Kharge Said
According to reports, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge made the remarks on Saturday, 3 October, demanding fresh elections conducted via ballot papers. He reportedly argued that since all elections were tainted, every position held by BJP ministers — from Prime Minister down to state chief ministers — was illegitimate. The statements drew immediate and sharp criticism from the ruling party.
Trivedi's Counterattack
Responding forcefully, Trivedi said the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first non-Congress party in India's history to win a clear majority in Parliament — a feat first achieved in 2014. 'Are you trying to call the BJP government — which won with a clear majority — illegal?' he challenged.
Trivedi also turned the tables on Kharge's own democratic credentials, alleging procedural irregularities in the Congress president's own internal party election. 'The first question that arises is that your election to the post of Congress President itself is illegal,' he said, citing claims that several Congress leaders had reportedly asked the party to publish the list of the Electoral College but were denied it.
Trivedi further recalled an episode involving the nomination of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi, alleging that Kharge was not permitted to enter the nomination room at that time. 'Everyone would remember that video where other family members were sitting inside the nomination room, but Kharge Ji was not even allowed to enter because it was believed that if he entered, it would become illegal,' he added.
BJP Points to Congress's Electoral Decline
Trivedi underlined the Congress party's long and deepening electoral decline to reinforce his point. He noted that Congress has not won in Tamil Nadu — a state with 39 Lok Sabha seats — since 1967, nor in West Bengal — with 42 seats — since 1977. He added that the party had effectively 'vanished' from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar since 1990. Trivedi said Congress had already lost its foothold in several states even before 2001.
BJP Demands Apology
Trivedi called on the entire Congress party to publicly apologise for Kharge's remarks, saying the statements disrespected the will of Indian voters who had repeatedly delivered verdicts against the Congress. This comes amid a broader pattern of increasingly combative rhetoric between the two parties ahead of several upcoming state elections. The BJP has consistently framed opposition challenges to election integrity as an attempt to delegitimise India's democratic institutions rather than engage on policy.
Point of View
Allowing Trivedi to sidestep any substantive election-integrity debate and instead catalogue Congress's own decades-long collapse. The deeper irony is that Kharge, elected Congress president under disputed internal procedures, is arguably the weakest messenger on electoral legitimacy. What the exchange actually reveals is a Congress struggling to find an opposition narrative that cuts through: attacking election validity without specific, verifiable evidence tends to energise ruling-party supporters more than it peels away swing voters. The BJP's counter-strategy — listing every state where Congress hasn't won in a generation — is blunt but effective shorthand for the party's structural irrelevance outside a handful of states.
NationPress
4 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Mallikarjun Kharge say about the Modi government?
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge reportedly declared that all recent elections were 'illegal' and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and all BJP chief ministers were therefore holding office illegally. He also demanded fresh elections conducted via ballot papers.
How did BJP's Sudhanshu Trivedi respond to Kharge's remarks?
BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi called the remarks an insult to the mandate of India's voters and noted that the BJP under PM Modi was the first non-Congress party to win a clear Parliamentary majority in 2014. He also questioned the legitimacy of Kharge's own internal Congress president election, alleging the party withheld the Electoral College list.
What is the significance of BJP being the 'first non-Congress party with a clear majority'?
Trivedi's point is that the BJP's 2014 win marked a historic break from decades of Congress dominance, giving it an unambiguous democratic mandate. He used this to argue that calling the BJP government 'illegal' amounts to rejecting the will of the Indian electorate.
Why did Trivedi bring up Congress's electoral record in Tamil Nadu, Bengal, UP, and Bihar?
Trivedi cited Congress's absence from these large states — not winning Tamil Nadu since 1967, West Bengal since 1977, and vanishing from UP and Bihar since 1990 — to underscore the party's long electoral decline and suggest it lacks the democratic standing to question others' legitimacy.
Has Congress responded to Trivedi's counterattack?
There was no immediate formal response from Congress to Trivedi's specific allegations about the party's internal election procedures, according to available reports at the time of publication.
