NEW DELHI: The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Friday organised protests across major universities, state capitals and metropolitan centres nationwide under its ‘Stop Anarchy, Embrace Democracy’ campaign.
The organisation opposed what it described as attempts by Rahul Gandhi and the Congress-Left ecosystem to undermine public confidence in constitutional institutions, including the Election Commission and the Supreme Court, and allegedly bring about a change of government through pressure tactics.
As part of the campaign, protests were held at various locations, including Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Odisha. ABVP national secretaries, state secretaries, elected university students’ union representatives and members participated in the demonstrations.
According to an ABVP statement shared with this newspaper on Friday, electoral grievances must be addressed through evidence and constitutional procedures rather than by pressuring institutions or spreading distrust in them.
"India is a democracy, not a mobocracy. Governments are formed and changed through the people's mandate, not through demonstrations of street power," ABVP stated in a statement shared with this newspaper on Friday.
The organisation asserted that attempts to emulate political developments in Bangladesh and Nepal to pursue a politics of anarchy and regime change in India were unacceptable.
Amid questions surrounding the role of external forces and the Deep State, ABVP maintained that India's political direction would be determined solely by its citizens.
"The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is a regular administrative exercise, and allegations of irregularities must be raised with evidence before appropriate constitutional forums. The differing positions adopted by political parties in states such as Kerala, Punjab and Tamil Nadu on the SIR process raise questions about their double standards," the ABVP said in the statement.
The ABVP also criticised the Congress, arguing that disrupting the daily lives of students, traders and ordinary citizens through political demonstrations and attempts to exert pressure on institutions was unjustified.
Highlighting its electoral performance in student union polls, the organisation said its successes at Delhi University and in Uttarakhand, Kerala and Odisha reflected growing acceptance of its ‘Nation First’ ideology among students.
In the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) elections, ABVP won three of the four central panel posts, while it also recorded notable successes in colleges across Odisha. In several colleges, the Congress-backed National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) could not even field candidates.
According to ABVP, these results demonstrated its organisational strength and the active participation of its members, reflecting that the country's youth stood with the ‘Nation First’ ideology rather than the politics of anarchy.
ABVP National General Secretary Dr Virendra Singh Solanki said, "India's democracy rests on the people's trust, the right to vote and the independence of constitutional institutions. The authority to change governments rests solely with the people, who elect and replace governments through their votes."
He further said, "Political dissent is welcome in a democracy, but attempts to change governments through mob pressure, anarchy or by targeting constitutional institutions are unacceptable. If there are any irregularities in the electoral process, evidence must be presented and constitutional and legal procedures followed."
Criticising the Congress and other Opposition parties, he further said, "Questioning the credibility of institutions such as the Election Commission and the Supreme Court for political interests, and attempting to bring them under pressure, goes against democratic propriety."
"Those who draw inspiration from developments in Bangladesh and Nepal and imagine bringing about a change of government in India through anarchy must understand that India's democracy is strong and that the people alone determine the future of governments here," he said.
Solanki added that ABVP's success in student union elections at Delhi University and in Uttarakhand, Kerala and Odisha demonstrated that students believed in the democratic process and supported the ‘Nation First’ ideology.
"ABVP calls upon the youth of the country to remain vigilant in safeguarding the dignity of constitutional institutions, democratic values and national interests, and to oppose the politics of anarchy and mobocracy through democratic means," he said.