Insulted people's mandate: BJP hits back at Mallikarjun Kharge over 'illegal' remark
The BJP on Sunday attacked Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over his remarks that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were "illegal", and asked him to apologise for what it called an insult to the people’s mandate.
The row began after Kharge called for the dissolution of the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, saying "all the elections were illegal" and that Prime Minister Modi, Home Minister Shah and the chief ministers of all states were "illegal". He also sought fresh elections through ballot papers.
Speaking to reporters in Karnataka’s Kalaburgi on Saturday, Kharge made the remarks while arguing for elections to be held on ballot papers. Responding to him, Union minister Kiren Rijiju said, "Are you illegal MP Kharge ji? Is Rahul Gandhi ji an illegal MP? Are Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Keralam, Punjab, J-K, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand illegal?"
"Stop insulting the Constitution of India," the Parliamentary Affairs Minister said in a post on X. Are you illegal MP Kharge ji? Is Rahul Gandhi ji an illegal MP? Are Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Keralam, Punjab, J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand illegal? Stop insulting the Constitution of India.— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) October 4, 2026
BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said Kharge’s remarks were an insult to the mandate of the people of the country and demanded an apology from the Congress. He said that after Kharge was elected Congress president, many leaders in the party had demanded the "list of the electoral college", but it was not shared with anyone. "So, the first question that arises is whether your election to the post of President is illegal," he asked Kharge.
Trivedi said Modi led the first non-Congress government in the country with a "clear majority" in 2014. "Among all the prime ministers from the Congress party’s family, which one was elected for the first time through a constitutional, democratic process with the public’s mandate?" he asked.
He alleged that Jawaharlal Nehru’s election in 1946 was "ethically illegal" as he became prime minister despite Sardar Patel receiving all the votes. "Indira Gandhi did not become prime minister for the first time through a popular mandate either. She ascended to the role amidst internal party infighting. Rajiv Gandhi assumed office riding the wave of public sympathy following Indira Gandhi’s tragic assassination. And everyone knows how Dr. Manmohan Singh and PV Narasimha Rao became prime ministers," he added.
Trivedi said the Congress should look within while discussing "what is legal or illegal". "The reality is that the Congress only won elections (in the past) when ballot papers were looted, booths were captured, there were no CCTVs or independent media and killings took place on a massive scale," he said. He added that the Congress could not defend itself by blaming India’s electoral system for its own failures.
The exchange followed Kharge’s demand for fresh elections on ballot papers and his description of elected governments as "illegal", with the BJP saying the remarks insulted both the Constitution and the people’s verdict.- Ends
