Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Wednesday, 28 October 2026, flagged off the state's leg of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) 'Save Democracy, End Anarchy' (Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao) campaign in Patna, leading a padyatra that wound through the city as a direct counter to what the ruling party has called the Opposition's street politics of 'anarchy and lies'.

The March and Its Message

The padyatra began at Gandhi Maidan and proceeded towards Kargil Chowk, drawing senior BJP leaders, party workers, and activists who raised slogans against the Opposition's planned protest drives across the country. The most prominent of those Opposition events is the 'Chalo Delhi' march, scheduled for 1 November. Addressing the assembled crowd, Samrat Choudhary labelled the Indian National Congress and its allies the 'symbols of anarchy', accusing them of running a 'malicious agenda' to destabilise constitutional institutions.

Choudhary's Sharp Attack on the Congress

The Bihar Chief Minister reserved some of his most pointed remarks for what he described as 'undignified' personal attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his family by Opposition leaders. 'Today, people are openly hurling abuses at our Prime Minister. Because it is a democracy, one Opposition leader speaks against his mother, while another Opposition leader makes disparaging remarks about his father. Look at their mentality. They have resorted to foul abuse and are becoming symbols of sheer anarchy,' he said.

In a particularly sharp remark, he added: 'Had it been a monarchy, you would have been behind bars.' The comments underscore an escalating war of words between the BJP and the Congress-led INDIA bloc ahead of a season of street protests.

Historical Reference: Rajiv Gandhi's Swearing-In

Choudhary also invoked recent political history to press his case, pointing to what he characterised as a 'black day' for democracy. He recalled that following the assassination of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi — who was reportedly in Bangladesh at the time — was swiftly sworn in as Prime Minister upon returning to India. 'He flew back after Indira Gandhi's assassination, and the President immediately swore him in as Prime Minister. There was no democracy at all,' he argued. The Congress has not publicly responded to these remarks.

The Broader BJP Campaign

The BJP launched the 'Save Democracy, End Anarchy' campaign specifically to counter what it describes as a fake narrative promoted by the Congress-led INDIA bloc. The party contends that the bloc's ongoing protests and proposed marches are an attempt to undermine constitutional institutions and conceal their own political failures, rather than a genuine democratic exercise. The Bihar edition is part of a nationwide rollout of the campaign.

The Opposition's protests, on the other hand, have been framed as efforts to 'expose collusion' between the government and the Election Commission of India (ECI) over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. With the 'Chalo Delhi' march days away, both the BJP and the INDIA bloc are racing to frame the national conversation — and the streets of India's capital may become the next flashpoint.