Prashant Bhushan And The Politics Of Dissent: From Lokpal To CJP

Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan on Thursday openly backed the possibility of a change of government, saying citizens had a democratic right to seek regime change if the ruling dispensation continued to undermine electoral democracy and fundamental rights.

His remarks came amid protests by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and opposition parties against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi alongside All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha Bora and CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, Bhushan rejected the government’s alleged characterisation of the agitation as an opposition-led attempt at regime change, but said a change of government was justified if the situation persisted.

“This government keeps on saying this is the opposition's operation of regime change. We are only appealing to save the electoral democracy in this country. If such barbarism continues, there will definitely be a regime change. We all want a regime change. Is there anything wrong with that? Regime change is a democratic right of every citizen, and creating disaffection against the government is not an offence,” Bhushan said.

He accused the Narendra Modi government of undermining electoral democracy and citizens’ fundamental rights, arguing that a government engaged in such actions could not continue in power.

“Such a government cannot continue, which is hell-bent on crushing the electoral democracy in the country and continues to play with the fundamental rights of citizens,” he said.

Bhushan also questioned the BJP’s criticism of the demand for regime change, pointing out that the party had itself led movements seeking changes in government. He said the agitation was no longer limited to ensuring that elections were conducted properly, describing it as a struggle against what he called a dictatorial government.

The BJP hit back at the remarks, accusing Rahul Gandhi’s ecosystem of promoting anarchy. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Bhushan’s statement had made the protesters’ agenda clear.

The exchange comes amid escalating tensions over the SIR exercise and the protests against the Election Commission. The BJP has alleged that the agitation is driven by a broader political objective, while protesters have framed their demands around electoral accountability and the protection of democratic rights.

A Career Built Around Public Interest Litigation

Bhushan, 70, is a senior advocate and human rights activist known for using public interest litigation to challenge alleged corruption, question public institutions and pursue cases concerning the rights of marginalised communities. He convenes the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms and is a founding member of the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, which takes up public interest cases in the High Courts and the Supreme Court. He has also founded Sambhaavanaa.

His legal work has covered several high-profile cases, including the Bofors case, the 2G spectrum allocation controversy, the Niira Radia tapes case, the Enron case and the Panna Mukta oilfields case. He has also intervened in matters concerning environmental protection, judicial reforms, police encounters, the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the rights of disadvantaged communities.

From Anna Hazare To The AAP Split

The son of former Union Law Minister Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan was drawn into public life through his family’s engagement with landmark legal battles. His father represented Raj Narain in the case challenging Indira Gandhi’s election from Rae Bareli, which resulted in the election being annulled. Prashant Bhushan, then a student, later documented the proceedings in The Case That Shook India.

In 2011, he and his father backed Anna Hazare’s India Against Corruption movement, which demanded a strong Lokpal law. The movement helped create the political momentum that led to the formation of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Bhushan later fell out with the party leadership and, alongside Yogendra Yadav, was removed from the AAP in 2015. The two subsequently formed Swaraj Abhiyan.

Bhushan later argued that the anti-corruption movement had been used by the political right to weaken the Congress and help Narendra Modi come to power. In a 2018 post, he wrote: “Modi needed Anna only to discredit the Congress and climb to power using his movement. He has no use for Anna now that he is in power. He has jettisoned the Lokpal, not notified the whistle blower law, appointed corrupt people to the CVC and the CBI, and escorted various scamsters out of India.”

A Fresh Political Confrontation

Bhushan’s latest intervention places him once again at the intersection of legal activism and political opposition. The immediate dispute centres on whether protests against the Election Commission are focused on electoral accountability, as the protesters maintain, or form part of a wider effort to change the government, as the BJP alleges.

By explicitly endorsing regime change if the government continues to undermine electoral democracy, Bhushan has moved beyond rejecting the BJP’s accusation to defending the demand itself as a democratic right. His remarks have consequently become a fresh point of confrontation between the protesters and the ruling party.