Union Minister Kiren Rijiju directed criticism at the Congress party on Monday in response to a post published by the Kerala Congress unit that took aim at Chief Justice of India Surya Kant. Posting a screenshot of the deleted message on X, Rijiju contended that the post confirmed a position he had previously stated — that the Congress party, having directed attention toward the Election Commission, would turn its focus to the judiciary next, a point he attributed to his own earlier remarks.
Critics of the opposition party have alleged that its policy agenda would erode the constitutional structures and democratic norms underpinning India's system of government. Several groups holding positions opposed to India are reported to have coordinated their efforts, and the message further claimed that people across the nation would rally together in support of the effort.
The dispute arose after Kerala Congress posted a message through its verified account directed at Chief Justice Surya Kant, with the text calling on him to step down if maintaining law and order fell outside his judicial remit. The statement followed remarks that CJI Surya Kant had placed on record earlier that day, with the quoted portion indicating a replacement would be sought for someone deemed unable to manage the matter.
Questioned by journalists on the margins of an event about the protests that had taken place in Delhi and the restrictions put in place across the capital city, he described the matter as one of law and order. Using the words "ye mera vishay nahin hai," the speaker drew a boundary around the matter, directing it toward law and order rather than claiming personal responsibility for it, indicating that the matter fell outside his stated area of responsibility.
Rallies organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) — centred on the group's stated concerns about irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and its calls directed at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar — were followed by a noticeable increase in security personnel deployed across the capital over the course of the weekend. Upwards of 20,000 security personnel took up positions throughout Delhi, a number of metro station entry and exit points were shut, and travel advisories went out to the public.
After users directed a stream of complaints at Kerala Congress, the party's digital team removed the post. Responding to the controversy, KPCC president Sunny Joseph confirmed that the party had already acted, noting that the individual who posted material deemed objectionable about Supreme Court Chief Justice Surya Kant through the party's official X account had been relieved of their role. Joseph stated that the post went out without any awareness, approval, or input from the KPCC leadership, and that a review into the conditions surrounding the post's publication was being conducted by KPCC.
The opposition party stated that it holds no objection to the neutrality of the courts. After screenshots of the deleted content had circulated widely and drawn objections from several BJP figures, the party's leadership issued a clarification stating that the social media posts in question did not reflect its official position — with one of those BJP figures describing the individuals responsible for the posts as people working to weaken the judiciary.
BJP MP Tejasvi Surya took to social media to question whether those raising constitutional arguments had standing to do so. Responding to the controversy, BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi pointed to the post published on X by the Kerala unit of the Congress party, which he described as objectionable for addressing Supreme Court Chief Justice Surya Kant by name without formal title. Trivedi attributed the politician's conduct either to impaired judgement or to the influence of unspecified outside actors, framing both possibilities as explanations for behaviour that, he alleged, was aimed at provoking unrest across the country.
