‘Spreading anarchy’: Yogi Adityanath targets Congress over protests against CEC in Delhi

The chief minister said the Congress was making malicious attempts to question the credibility of constitutional institutions

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday launched a scathing attack on the Congress, accusing it of “promoting anarchy” and warning that the party risked losing whatever political ground it has left if it did not make amends.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath (Handout via PTI)

Adityanath said Uttar Pradesh ousted Congress from power 41 years ago and the party hadn’t returned to power in the state since then. “If Congress does not desist from spreading anarchy to cover up its political failures, the public will wipe out whatever political existence it has left. Instead of learning from its mistakes, the country’s oldest political party is questioning democracy and constitutional institutions,” he told reporters, referring to the protests against the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in the national capital in recent days.

The chief minister’s remarks came hours before the Congress was to lead an Opposition march to the Supreme Court to seek Chief Justice of India Surya Kant’s intervention on a range of issues, including the police action against protesters, the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the composition of the committee that selects election commissioners. CJI Surya Kant has already declined a request from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to meet him over the crackdown on a youth-led protest in Delhi and alleged electoral irregularities. The Opposition still plans to march to the top court and hand a representation addressed to the CJI to a court official.

The chief minister said the Congress had been creating disorder in Delhi, leading to harassment of people. It is also making malicious attempts to question the credibility of constitutional institutions

“Resorting to abusive language, questioning the credibility of institutions, and spreading disorder have become its (Congress’) political traits,” he said, asserting that blaming democratic institutions for its own political failures would not help the Congress regain its lost support base.

“When courts deliver judgments on merit, attempts are made to put the judiciary in the dock. Threats are issued, constitutional institutions are abused, and disorder is created. This has become part of the Congress’s political conduct,” he said.

The protests in Delhi are part of a longer string of events that have mounted pressure on Gyanesh Kumar over the controversial SIR – which has already deleted 130 million names from India’s electoral rolls – and other allegations. The developments come after an Indian Express investigation said election commissioners SS Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded written dissents and objections at least 14 times between November 2025 and August 2026 and even written to the cabinet secretary. It also alleged that election officials found their access to the ECI software curtailed by the central IT team. ECI said differing views and observations were a normal part of deliberation and that all its digital platforms operated under strict data security protocols.