Congress president says opposition leaders will apprise Chief Justice of India of their concerns; questions heavy security deployment during youth agitation and criticises 2023 law protecting election commissioners.
New Delhi, Oct 2026 : Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of creating an atmosphere of chaos and fear in the country, announcing that opposition leaders would seek a meeting with the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to convey their concerns.
Kharge said he had written to the CJI seeking an appointment, while Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had also sent a letter. The Congress has requested a meeting between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Monday, he said.
“Tomorrow, we are also going to meet the Chief Justice of India. I have written a letter, and Rahul has also written a letter. We have sought a time between 4 and 5 (p.m.). Now, let us see. We will also apprise him,” Kharge said.
He clarified that the opposition would approach the CJI with a request rather than make demands. “We cannot demand anything from him. We will only request him with folded hands,” he said, adding that certain concerns needed to be brought to the judiciary’s attention.
The Congress chief alleged that the government was creating an atmosphere of fear ahead of the announced youth agitation. He questioned the deployment of a large number of security personnel in the national capital during the protests.
“In the country, chaos is being created by the Prime Minister and Home Minister. Nearly 32,000 policemen and nearly 7,500 CRF were deployed yesterday, which itself shows how much fear he has got because of the announced youth agitation,” Kharge said.
Comparing the situation with the Emergency, imposed between 1975 and 1977, he claimed that the restrictions and security arrangements surrounding the recent agitation were excessive.
“Yesterday also, youths were agitating, but even during the Emergency, such things did not happen,” he said, recalling that trains and flights had continued operating and people had been able to move freely during his experience of that period.
Kharge also referred to his tenure as Education Minister in Karnataka when D. Devaraj Urs was the Chief Minister during the Emergency. He said people were not unnecessarily arrested and recalled instances when individuals themselves requested the government to detain them.
According to Kharge, Devaraj Urs refused such requests, asking what grounds existed for making arrests. The Congress president cited the episode to underline his criticism of the handling of the current protests.
Kharge also targeted the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and the legal protection provided to the head and members of the Election Commission of India under the 2023 legislation governing their appointment and service conditions.
He alleged that the Modi government had introduced the law to shield election commissioners from legal action.
“To create such an atmosphere, PM Modi brought the 2023 Act to protect the Chief Election Commissioner and members. That immunity he gave,” Kharge said, questioning why such protection had been granted to election officials.
His remarks come amid continuing opposition criticism over alleged electoral irregularities, the functioning of the Election Commission and the authorities’ response to protests. The proposed meeting with the CJI would provide opposition leaders an opportunity to place their concerns before the judiciary, subject to the court’s availability and decision on the appointment.
(Disclaimer :The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)
