Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday (January 25, 2026) accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government of systematically undermining democratic institutions and eroding the federal structure, warning that the “very foundations of the republic” were under strain as India marked the 77th anniversary of the adoption of its Constitution.
In his Republic Day message to the nation, posted on social media platform X, Mr. Kharge said the right to vote — “a strong pillar of democracy” — was being “bulldozed”, while federalism had become a casualty of the ruling party’s “double-engine” governance model, which he alleged was being used to disadvantage Opposition-ruled States.
Election Commission facing sustained pressure, need to protect its independence: Kharge on Voters' Day
“The Constitutional rights of crores of MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) workers are under attack, livelihoods are being snatched away, and panchayats are being weakened at the grassroots,” Mr. Kharge said, alleging that the rights-based social welfare framework built over decades was being dismantled through “instant diktats”. He added that institutional degradation had reached its “zenith”.
