To ‘regime change’ jab, Rajnath Singh’s ‘respect mandate’ reply

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has hit back against the opposition INDIA bloc - and the CJP-AISA pressure groups - after the phrase 'regime change' was mentioned by lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan at a press conference Thursday. Accusing Congress MP Rahul Gandhi - one of the protest leaders - of practicing the 'politics of disruption' in the name of protecting democracy, Singh said Friday the opposition had 'to respect the mandate' from the 2024 Lok Sabha poll, in which the BJP was the single-largest party but without a majority of its own. Speaking to reporters at the BJP's Uttar Pradesh HQ, Singh accused the Congress of 'political opportunism' as he slammed the protests in Delhi, which AISA leader Neha Bora compared to the Gen Z protests that overthrew the previous Bangladesh government.