Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday launched a sharp attack on the Congress, attributing its repeated electoral setbacks to what he called the party’s “directionless” and “idea-less” leadership, while rejecting its allegations against the Election Commission.Speaking at a press conference at the BJP headquarters, Singh said Congress had turned protests on the streets and attacks on constitutional institutions into a response to its electoral defeats.“Congress’ defeat is not because of the Election Commission. The reason for Congress’ defeat is its own idea-less leadership,” Chouhan said, accusing the party of failing to understand the country, its people, traditions and values.Referring to the Congress’ recent electoral performance, he asked what had happened in by-elections in Assam, local body polls in Tripura and Rajasthan and earlier elections in Himachal Pradesh. He said the party was facing a cycle of defeats while simultaneously taking its grievances to the streets.Chouhan also pointed to factionalism within the Congress, citing leadership disputes in Uttar Pradesh, the change of the state party president in Punjab and the reported tussle between Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar in Karnataka, besides internal differences in Telangana.He claimed the Congress had been reduced to a “junior partner” in several states and was dependent on regional parties for political survival.“Congress has become a junior partner and a parasitic party,” he said, citing its alliances with the DMK in Tamil Nadu, RJD in Bihar, SP in Uttar Pradesh, JMM in Jharkhand and National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir.Chouhan also invoked the Congress’ long-term decline in several states, claiming the party had been out of power for decades in states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Odisha, Tripura and West Bengal.BJP leader accused the Congress of targeting constitutional institutions whenever outcomes went against it. He alleged that the party attacked courts when judicial verdicts did not favour it, the Election Commission after electoral defeats and the armed forces when terrorists were targeted.At the same time, Chouhan said political parties had the right to protest but could not paralyse public life.“Democracy gives the right to protest, but nobody can hold the entire public hostage,” he said, adding that protests had to be conducted within established rules and procedures.Shivraj also targeted Rahul Gandhi over his past remarks about the “Indian State”, asking him to explain what he meant by saying that his fight was not merely against the BJP, but against the Indian State.He further accused the Congress and the INDIA bloc of joining hands with forces opposed to the country and alleged that the Opposition was seeking foreign support for its political battle.Taking a swipe at the Congress’ recent rhetoric around Lord Shiva, Chouhan said those responsible for creating disorder on the streets could not invoke religious symbols to justify their politics. He ended by questioning whether the Congress had any coherent political strategy, saying a party whose leadership itself claimed not to plan its political actions could not expect to win the confidence of the people.“Neither is there a direction, nor a policy, nor leadership,” Chouhan said, asserting that the Congress’ political decline would continue.