Congress to Hold Nationwide Protests on November 26 Against BJP Plans

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury announced nationwide protests on November 26 to oppose the BJP's delimitation plans, which he claims threaten India's secular Constitution, democratic integrity, and minority representation.

Congress to Hold Nationwide Protests on November 26 Against BJP Plans

Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury announced that his party will launch nationwide protests on November 26 "to defend democracy and the Constitution". November 26 is observed as Constitution Day. He alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) plans to use the upcoming delimitation exercise to redraw parliamentary boundaries and alter India's secular constitutional framework while sidelining minority votes.

"Congress to launch nationwide protests on November 26 to defend democracy and the Constitution! There are serious concerns that delimitation and an increase in parliamentary seats could be used to secure an overwhelming majority and alter India's secular constitutional framework and historical legacy," Chowdhury posted on X.

"Allegations have also emerged of attempts to secure the support of MPs from other parties through financial inducements. The people of India must remain vigilant to safeguard our democracy and Constitution," he added.

Chowdhury shared a video clip of a press briefing, where he lashed out at the ruling party for trying to pass the delimitation bill. "Look, this is not an agenda of today for the BJP party. They have been trying this for a long time. The reason is that the people of India do not want this. Especially every state in South India will definitely oppose it," Chowdhury said in the video.

The Congress leader alleged that the core objective behind redrawing boundaries is electoral engineering. "By passing this bill, they want to fulfil the BJP party's agenda--an agenda whose core premise is: 'In the coming days, we will win with a two-thirds majority, and across all of India, boundaries [delimitation] will be drawn in such a manner that the BJP party believes Muslim votes will not be needed at all.' And by virtue of that, they intend to come to power single-handedly with a majority and change the Constitution," Chowdhury claimed.

He asserted that altering foundational principles such as secularism amounts to dismantling the Constitution itself. "Changing the Constitution might not be spoken aloud openly, but altering the foundational values of the Constitution itself amounts to changing the Constitution. The core of those values is secularism. In the government's conduct, in every single step taken by the government, we can clearly see this: dismantling secularism, altering history, and distorting history," Chowdhury remarked.

Chowdhury further alleged that the BJP realises it cannot achieve a majority on its own under the existing political climate, which is why it wants to diminish its dependence on allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Calling upon citizens to remain alert, Chowdhury concluded, "People of India, be vigilant. Be alert, citizens of India! In the days ahead, to safeguard your democracy, the Constitution must be protected. Therefore, on the coming 26th of November, across the country, Congress is launching a protest movement with a call to protect the Constitution."

His remarks come amid the ongoing political debate over the Centre’s efforts to secure the passage of a Constitution Amendment Bill linking the implementation of women’s reservation to the proposed delimitation exercise. The proposed Delimitation Bill aims to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 850.