Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Kerala President and MLA Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Thursday, 22 October 2026, declared that democracy and mobocracy were fundamentally incompatible, asserting that only peaceful voting — not street violence or chaos — could legitimately change a government. His remarks came as the BJP formally launched a 15-day nationwide campaign titled 'Loktantra Bachao, Bheedtantra Hatao' (Save Democracy, Remove Mobocracy), which will run until 5 November.

What Chandrasekhar Said

'Democracy and mobocracy are incompatible. You cannot have a democracy where governments are changed through anything other than a peaceful vote. Voters decide who the Prime Minister is, who forms the government and who is the Chief Minister. That is what democracy is,' Chandrasekhar said.

He went further: 'You cannot have violent mobs, anarchists, chaos or criminals coming out onto the streets to decide who will be the leader of a country or state. Violence, chaos and democracy are incompatible.' He stressed that the sole legitimate mechanism for changing an elected government or representative was through a peaceful ballot.

The Campaign and Its Targets

According to senior BJP leaders, the 'Loktantra Bachao, Bheedtantra Hatao' campaign will feature rallies, press conferences, student and youth outreach, and engagements with civil society groups across the country. The party says the drive is aimed at defending its position on electoral processes and countering Opposition allegations regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The BJP is also pushing back against the Opposition's demand for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Notably, this campaign marks a direct counter-narrative by the BJP to the INDIA bloc's ongoing street-level agitations — a pattern that has intensified in the lead-up to several state assembly cycles.

Swipe at the INDIA Bloc

Reacting to the INDIA bloc's virtual meeting held on the same day, Chandrasekhar took aim at the Opposition's key figurehead. 'Obviously, they have to have a virtual meeting because the so-called icon of this fake, anarchic and chaotic campaign has left India and gone off on yet another holiday. The internet is helping them conduct virtual campaigns. Let them have more virtual campaigns,' he said.

He further alleged that the Indian National Congress was deliberately stoking chaos and anarchy with the backing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) — the CPI(M). 'The people of India are determined to expose this type of chaos and anarchy that is being deliberately unleashed by the Congress Party, with the help of the CPI(M), upon the people of India,' Chandrasekhar added.

Broader Political Context

The BJP's campaign comes amid a charged national atmosphere over electoral roll revisions, with Opposition parties — particularly the Congress and the CPI(M) in Kerala — alleging irregularities in the SIR process and calling for the Election Commission's top leadership to be replaced. The BJP's counter-offensive frames these protests as anti-democratic, seeking to shift public opinion ahead of upcoming electoral contests. This is not the first time the ruling party has weaponised the 'mobocracy' framing; similar language was deployed during earlier episodes of large-scale Opposition-led agitations.

All eyes will now be on whether the campaign generates measurable political traction beyond the party's existing voter base, and whether the Opposition escalates its own mobilisation in response.