BJP Holds 'Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao' Marches in Telangana and West Bengal

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday held ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ marches in Telangana and West Bengal . Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party national president Nitin Nabin led separate events and launched sharp attacks on the Congress, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and other Opposition parties. The marches in Hyderabad and Kolkata witnessed the participation of a large number of BJP workers and supporters, amid the party’s ongoing political confrontation with the Opposition over allegations of irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. In Hyderabad, Amit Shah accused the Congress government in Telangana of corruption and failing to fulfil its electoral promises, while also targeting Rahul Gandhi over the Opposition’s criticism of the BJP-led government at the Centre. In Kolkata, Nitin Nabin, accompanied by West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya, led the march and accused Rahul Gandhi and the INDIA bloc of encouraging anarchy and acting against the country’s interests. Addressing the gathering in Hyderabad, Shah accused Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy of turning the state into an “ATM” for Congress leaders in Delhi. “Revanth Reddy ji, you have turned the entire Telangana into an ATM for the Congress leaders sitting in Delhi. The people of Telangana will never forgive you for this,” Shah said. He also criticised the Congress government over its implementation of the six guarantees promised by the party, alleging that not even one of them had been fulfilled. Taking aim at the Opposition over its criticism of the Centre’s national security policies, Shah referred to surgical strikes, airstrikes and Operation Sindoor, asking whether the government had taken action against terrorism through these operations. The Home Minister reiterated the BJP’s commitment to eliminating drugs from the country, saying the government would work towards making India drug-free before December 31, 2029. He also targeted the Congress, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, alleging that they would not be able to stop corruption in Telangana or prevent what he described as a conspiracy to sell the state. “Only the Bharatiya Janata Party, under the leadership of Modi ji, can stop it,” he said. Shah also launched a personal attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, describing the party as being “on a ventilator” and questioning its ability to compete politically with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The Congress party itself is on a ventilator. Can this ventilator party run a marathon alongside Modi ji?” he said. Taking a swipe at Gandhi, Shah added that even the Telangana Yuva Morcha president would defeat him. In West Bengal, BJP national president Nitin Nabin led the ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ march in Kolkata, along with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya. Addressing party workers, Nabin targeted the INDIA bloc, alleging that Opposition leaders who had faced electoral defeats in their respective states had gathered in Delhi to express their frustration. He referred to the BJP’s political battles against the TMC in West Bengal, the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi, and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Bihar. Nabin also turned his attention to Uttar Pradesh, saying the BJP would defeat Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in the 2027 Assembly elections. He alleged that Rahul Gandhi was leading forces responsible for creating instability in the country and accused him of acting as a “toolkit” for foreign elements seeking to destabilise India. “Rahul Gandhi is a toolkit of those forces which engineered the unrest in Nepal and other neighbouring countries. He is leading those forces who are behind the anarchy across the country,” Nabin alleged. During the Kolkata march, Nabin also claimed that people in West Bengal had rejected what he described as anarchy under Mamata Banerjee’s leadership. “Here, in Kolkata, I saw that people of Kolkata had wiped out anarchy on 4th May itself. Mamata didi was ousted and West Bengal ‘BJPmay’. I saw no sign of anarchy today,” he said. However, he alleged that some elements responsible for creating political unrest remained active and referred to the INDIA bloc gathering at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on Sunday. He said the people of the country would respond to these forces in the same way that voters in West Bengal had responded to them. Nabin also claimed that the people of Bengal had moved away from both Mamata Banerjee and Rahul Gandhi, as he continued his attack on the Opposition leadership.