BJP Alleges ‘Regime Change’ Plot After Fox News Report Links France and India Protests
The BJP accused Congress of pursuing a “regime change” campaign on October 22 after a Fox News report drew connections between protests in France and demonstrations in India demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The report identified 101 organisations across 13 countries as organisers, supporters or amplifiers of protest activity. It did not establish that Congress directed the unrest in either country.
The dispute has brought an international dimension to an already heated argument over India’s voter lists. Young protesters, opposition parties and civil society groups have called for Kumar to resign amid concerns about a nationwide review of electoral rolls. The Election Commission and the BJP reject allegations that the review is politically motivated.
What the Fox News report identified
Published on October 20, the Fox News Digital report examined groups involved in protests in France and a wider network of organisations sharing or promoting protest messages. Its list of 101 includes different kinds of participants, from groups organising demonstrations to organisations amplifying them internationally. The figure is not a count of groups shown to have organised the Delhi protests.
The report named Indian Alliance Paris, a France-based organisation, as a group connecting discussion of the French and Indian protests. It also pointed to Progressive International, which discussed demonstrations in France, Spain, India and Albania in an October 16 briefing.
Progressive International’s briefing described the grievances behind the protests in each country and said it was working to support and connect movements. It also discussed links forming among youth groups, left-wing organisations and workers’ groups in India. Those public statements show political solidarity and shared messaging; they do not, on their own, establish who planned or funded particular demonstrations.
BJP challenges Congress over earlier meeting
BJP spokespersons Gaurav Bhatia and Pradeep Bhandari cited the report in their attack on Congress and Rahul Gandhi. They alleged that the international connections pointed to a wider effort to create disorder and change the government. Bhandari called for Congress to explain its relationship with Progressive International.
The BJP also raised a meeting between Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and a Progressive International delegation at Sonia Gandhi’s New Delhi residence. Congress publicly acknowledged that meeting on April 28, 2025. The meeting took place more than a year before the current protests. It does not, by itself, show that Congress coordinated them.
Congress had not immediately responded to the BJP’s latest allegations when they were reported on October 22. The central claim of a Congress-backed foreign “regime change” plot remains an allegation, distinct from the documented meeting and the organisations’ public discussion of protests.
Why protesters want Gyanesh Kumar to resign
India’s demonstrations centre on the Special Intensive Revision, an Election Commission review of voter lists. Critics say its document requirements and removal of names risk excluding eligible voters. They have demanded that the review be halted and that Kumar step down. The Election Commission says the exercise is intended to remove duplicate and ineligible entries while keeping eligible voters on the rolls.
Student-led groups have joined opposition parties in protests in Delhi and other cities. Their demands concern how India maintains its voter lists and whether the public can trust the process ahead of future elections. That domestic dispute is separate from the grievances driving protests in France, which have included education funding and the cost of living.
The Fox News report has given the BJP a new line of political attack, but its broad list brings together organisers and groups that shared protest messages. Whether any organisation coordinated unlawful activity in India, or whether Congress directed it, would require evidence beyond those associations. For now, the argument over the report runs alongside the unresolved dispute over the voter-list review.
