Democracy facing deep crisis in country under BJP rule: Bengal Congress chief

Kolkata: West Bengal Pradesh Congress president Subhankar Sarkar on Monday alleged that democracy in the country was facing a "deep crisis" and accused the EC of acting as a "stooge" of the BJP-led Centre.

In a statement, Sarkar said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's campaign against alleged "vote theft" was not merely a political battle but a fight to "save the Constitution".

He also alleged that after "vote theft", there was now a politics of "stealing party symbols", citing developments in Maharashtra involving the Shiv Sena and NCP.


"The same Maharashtra model is being imported into West Bengal," Sarkar alleged.

Referring to the four-month-old BJP government in West Bengal, Sarkar alleged that despite its slogan of "fear out, trust in", an atmosphere of fear had been created across the state.

He alleged that bulldozers were being used to demolish shops and houses of poor people, while police were being used to suppress voices of dissent.

"This is not West Bengal's culture. This is the politics of the Uttar Pradesh 'Yogi model' imported by the BJP," he alleged.

Sarkar claimed that a new political atmosphere was emerging in the state, with anti-BJP parties and "democratic forces" gradually coming together.

He appealed to all anti-BJP forces to ensure that nothing was said or done that could create divisions among them.

"This battle is no longer merely a battle for capturing power. It is a battle of ideology and political thought," Sarkar said, asserting that Rahul Gandhi was leading the fight.

With the Assembly bypolls to Rejinagar and Nandigram approaching, the state Congress chief appealed to anti-BJP voters to support Congress-backed candidates Abdullahil Kafi and Milan Pradhan.

He urged voters to elect the two candidates on the Congress' hand symbol by a "huge margin".

The bypolls are scheduled on October 6.

Pradhan has been arrested and remanded in judicial custody in connection with several cases related to the anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram and Khejuri in Purba Medinipur in 2007.

The Congress also accused the BJP of "letting loose a reign of fascism and authoritarianism" despite securing a huge mandate in the 2026 Assembly polls, and alleged that the party was trying to "bulldoze" its victory in the Nandigram bypoll.