RSS mouthpiece asks if protest against ECI is CIA ploy to destabilise BJP regime

Organiser, the mouthpiece of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has claimed that a CIA plot may be behind the protests against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and the conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls by the Election Commission of India (ECI). It compared the protests to the 2024 Gen Z revolution in Bangladesh that led to the ouster of then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. 

In an article titled ‘ECI controversy resembles Bangladesh regime change playbook; Is it a CIA conspiracy to destabilise India?’, the magazine posed the question without citing any source or document. It asked whether the ongoing protests against SIR were the “first step in the larger plot weaved by the hidden hands”.

Organiser claimed that the allegations of irregularities and a fractured consensus in the ECI revisit a pattern seen in Bangladesh. It claimed that “intelligence sources” and “geopolitical analysts” believe that the CIA targeted Bangladesh’s Election Commission first. According to the article, CEC KM Nurul Huda was “pitched against” Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukdar. It says news of this rift spread rapidly and fuelled public distrust. This, it claims, led to the student uprising that toppled the Awami League government, while providing no supporting evidence. 

The Bangladesh protests began in June 2024 over a quota that reserved 30% of government jobs for descendants of 1971 Liberation War veterans. Students demanded a merit-based system, but the government’s crackdown transformed the movement into a broader anti-government uprising. Authorities cut internet access, imposed a curfew and deployed security forces as clashes intensified. 

The Supreme Court later reduced the veterans’ quota to 5%, but protests continued amid demands for accountability for those killed. By the time Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country on August 5, hundreds had been killed, with the UN later reporting that the security forces’ response had resulted in hundreds of deaths, including at least 32 children.

Calling the Bangladesh protests a systematically orchestrated propaganda, the Organiser article said, “Rift in the Election Commission fuels public distrust about the elections, governance apparatus and the elected government. This public angst will be further flamed by other tools that aim to ideologically manipulate the electorate. Thus, the franchise is altered as per the hegemonic ambitions of the CIA.”

The article also alleged that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and other networks influenced public opinion “under the veil of development and democracy”. It does not offer evidence for either claim.

It describes the same pattern in India. Election commissioners are pitted against each other, it says, public trust erodes and people are “triggered to mobilise” against the government. It ends by asking whether the episode raises concerns about “CIA or illicit external influence”.

Organiser refers to a report by a “private media platform” about how the controversy started. The report is an Indian Express investigation published on September 23. The newspaper reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally recorded objections at least 14 times in 10 months. These concerned decisions and processes within the poll panel, including those related to electoral rolls and the SIR.

The two commissioners reportedly said that some decisions and orders were issued without their knowledge. They also objected to changes to Form 6, which new voters use to apply for inclusion in the rolls. They raised concerns about the centralisation of electoral roll databases as well. Both approached the Cabinet Secretary over changes to the Commission’s IT systems.

The ECI has pushed back on the suggestion that the objections point to a split within the poll panel. It said disagreements, queries on operations and administrative suggestions are routine in a constitutional body with more than one member. According to the Commission, every final decision, including those on SIR, was taken unanimously.

Organiser’s article does not mention Form 6, the database changes or the objections on electoral rolls. It does not address the Commission’s response. It does say that disregarding the majority opinion would violate constitutional rules.

The article ultimately lays out a regime-change playbook involving propaganda, manipulated public opinion, violence and a “foreign dark horse”, before asking, once again, whether the CIA is behind the ECI controversy.