Not toppling the government, we want free elections: Shashi Tharoor rejects comparison with Bangladesh

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has rejected comparisons of India's situation with that of Bangladesh or France. On Monday, he said the opposition's main demand is free and fair elections — not toppling the government.

The debate began with a post on Sunday. In that post on the social media platform X, India's Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, alleged that anti-India groups and some politicians had together conspired to incite young people to spread violence. He claimed a conspiracy of the same kind as the unrest in Bangladesh and France had been planned for India as well.

It was mainly in response to journalists' questions about Rijiju's post that Tharoor spoke out on Monday. He said India never supports violence and that any movement should be peaceful. He also questioned the logic of comparing India's situation with unrest in other countries.

Tharoor said: 'I think India is not Bangladesh, and India is not France either. I see no logic in this kind of comparison... We never support the kind of violence that has happened in France, such as setting buses and police stations on fire.'

Making his position on peaceful protest clear, he added: 'We believe only in peaceful movements... I myself have taken part in such movements. And I believe that, in the general sense, the opposition supports this.'

Explaining what the opposition's real demand is, Tharoor said: 'If we speak of the larger issues, there is no point distorting talk of 'government change' or things like that... We are only demanding free and fair elections.'

In his words, the main concern at present is the voter list. He said: 'A huge number of people have been removed from the voter list through a completely flawed, irregular and partly illegal process. That is why we are demanding that these be cancelled... This is a constitutional matter. It is not an attempt to topple a government or anything of that sort.'

Tharoor also spoke in favour of citizens' rights to protect democratic institutions. But he made clear that his criticism is about how these institutions are conducting themselves — not about their existence.

He said: 'Democracy is not a gift given by anyone... We, the ordinary citizens of India, are its guardians... Every Indian citizen has the right to protect our democracy... All I am saying is that we are asking institutions like the Election Commission to behave properly. We are asking them to do the duty they are supposed to perform under India's democratic constitution. That is all there is to it. I am in no way challenging these institutions as institutions. I am only challenging the way they are behaving and conducting themselves. And frankly, as ordinary citizens of India, we should all be concerned about this.'

In his X post, Rijiju had also said: 'The kind of violence that happened in Bangladesh, and the riots, arson and looting that happened in France — exactly the same conspiracy was made for India.' He stressed that in India, a government can change only through elections.

The debate then intensified further. Senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan described the ongoing movement against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar as a 'fight to change the government'. In addition, All India Students' Association (AISA) president Neha Bora had mentioned the 'Gen-Z', or new-generation-led, movement in Bangladesh — comments that further fuelled the comparison debate.

Rijiju had earlier alleged that political opponents and activists were using street movements to create instability and destabilise constitutional institutions. Tharoor's remarks on Monday came as a direct response to that allegation.

In reply to journalists' questions, Tharoor also responded to Elon Musk's recent comments about the internet service provider Starlink. He said the government has stated that all companies that submitted bids to provide the service are going through the same process and facing the same delays. 'If we take the government's position literally, it means Musk is not far behind in this line, and Ambani is not far ahead either. I think we just have to wait until the process is over... There are several issues here. There is the question of technology, there are certain security matters, there are various details of satellite uplinking, and finally there is the question of cost.'

He said the decision on cost would ultimately be made by consumers: 'The decision on the last point (cost) will be made by the general public. If you give me a service and someone else gives the same service at ten times the price, I may take it from you. And if I really feel his service is worth paying ten times for, I will pay him. Every customer has to decide this for themselves. Personally, I am quite happy with my normal internet connection. I am not looking for Starlink myself. But if there are people who find such things necessary, in a free country they should have that opportunity.'