Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday, 30 September 2026, launched a sharp attack on the Congress and the INDIA bloc at a press conference held at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Central office in New Delhi, accusing the opposition of refusing to introspect after successive electoral defeats and instead resorting to 'confusion, falsehoods and fabricated allegations.'

Chouhan's Charges Against Congress Leadership

The Union Minister for Agriculture, Farmers' Welfare and Rural Development said the country had expected the Congress to apologise for its mistakes and engage in genuine self-reflection. Instead, he alleged, both Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi continue to 'spread confusion and make unfounded charges.'

Chouhan pointed to remarks made at a recent Congress Working Committee meeting, where Gandhi had reportedly said 'Trust me, believe in me' — which, Chouhan argued, indicated that even within the party there is a lack of confidence in its own leadership. He called the current exercise Gandhi's '50th attempt' to relaunch himself, asserting that the INDIA alliance is not prepared to accept Gandhi as its leader.

Cracks in the INDIA Bloc on Display

Chouhan drew attention to the INDIA alliance meeting held on the same day, noting the conspicuous absence of several key constituent leaders. According to him, Akhilesh Yadav, MK Stalin, and Arvind Kejriwal did not attend in person; Uddhav Thackeray joined only virtually; and there was no information about the whereabouts of Hemant Soren. He further claimed that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has signalled it will not share a platform with the Congress wherever the party is present.

Describing the bloc's condition as thoroughly fragmented, Chouhan invoked the Urdu line 'Ek dil ke tukde hazaar hue' — roughly, 'one heart broken into a thousand pieces' — to characterise the alliance's internal state.

'Save Dynasty March', Not Save Democracy

The minister dismissed the opposition's proposed 'Save Democracy March', scheduled from 2 October to 8 October, as a 'Save Dynasty March' designed to protect dynastic politics — or 'Parivarvaad' in his words. He said the people of India are no longer willing to accept the politics of dynasty, and that voters today judge leaders on performance and delivery, not loyalty or lineage.

He also accused the Congress of double standards, alleging the party raises the slogan 'Loktantra Zindabad' (Long live democracy) when it wins elections, but shifts to 'Chunav Aayog Murdabad' (Down with the Election Commission) when it loses.

Electoral Rolls, Institutions and Congress's Track Record

Defending the ongoing purification of electoral rolls, Chouhan argued that a clean voter list is 'the soul of democracy.' He questioned how opposing the removal of deceased persons, duplicate entries, and non-citizens from voter rolls could serve democratic interests.

He reminded the gathering that the Congress had dismissed elected state governments more than fifty times, imposed the Emergency, and changed Chief Ministers of various states at will. Reaffirming the independence of constitutional institutions, Chouhan stated: 'Constitutional institutions, including the Election Commission and the Judiciary, function independently, and it is the people who decide who becomes Prime Minister or Chief Minister, not any individual leader.'

With assembly elections approaching in several states and the INDIA bloc's internal cohesion under visible strain, Wednesday's broadside signals that the BJP intends to keep the pressure on the opposition's unity narrative heading into the next electoral cycle.