New Delhi, November 15, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
A political row erupted on Sunday after Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi declared that democracy in India had died in 2014, with several BJP leaders and Ministers accusing him of undermining constitutional institutions and taking domestic political disputes to international platforms.
BJP leaders countered Gandhi’s remarks by invoking the Emergency imposed in 1975 under the Congress government, arguing that the party had itself undermined democratic institutions during its rule. However, Samajwadi Party MP Virendra Singh supported Gandhi’s concerns, alleging that constitutional institutions were losing their independence and transparency.
Delhi Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa accused the Gandhi family of questioning India’s democratic institutions on foreign soil and suggested that it viewed political power as its birthright. He said the Prime Minister’s office was determined by the people’s mandate, not political inheritance.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai also invoked the Emergency, accusing the Congress of tampering with the Constitution and weakening democracy for political interests.
BJP spokesperson T.R. Srinivas described Gandhi’s statement as an attempt to explain the Congress’s electoral decline. He urged the Leader of the Opposition to raise his concerns in parliamentary debates rather than take political disagreements to the streets.
Telangana BJP president N. Ramchander Rao similarly accused the Congress of undermining democracy, citing the Emergency and the dismissal of elected state governments during its tenure. He also objected to foreign delegates participating in criticism of the Indian government at the Bharat Summit.
Uttar Pradesh Minister Narendra Kashyap said Gandhi was entitled to criticise the Union government in his capacity as Leader of the Opposition, but questioned the involvement of foreign delegates in domestic political debates.
BJP MLA Ram Kadam accused Gandhi of weakening constitutional institutions, including the Judiciary and the Election Commission, while party leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain alleged that Gandhi equated democracy with the Congress being in power.
Hussain also criticised the Congress’s protests against constitutional institutions and called for a debate between Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Taking a contrasting position, Samajwadi Party MP Virendra Singh backed Gandhi’s concerns, alleging that democratic and constitutional institutions were increasingly functioning under government pressure rather than independently.
The controversy followed Gandhi’s address at the valedictory session of the Bharat Summit in Hyderabad on Saturday. He said India was no longer a democracy and that the Opposition had spent nearly a decade coming to terms with the political shift that began in 2014.
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