The BJP on Wednesday accused the Congress and the Left of instigating farmers and also intensified its effort to discredit the peasants’ struggle by calling the Republic Day violence an “insurrection against a democratically elected government”.

At a media conference at the BJP headquarters in the evening, information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar accused “the Congress and the Left of instigating violence”. He said the two political forces were desperately trying every means to “spread anarchy” in the country to defame the Narendra Modi government.

“All those who are facing defeat in elections have come together and are trying to anyhow launch violence and anarchy in the country,” Javadekar said.

He referred to the Congress’s and Rahul Gandhi’s tweets in support of the “non-violent” tractor parade of the farmers and pointed to the violence that ensued.

“Everybody saw policemen were attacked with swords, lathis and tractors.… How was it a non-violent protest?” the BJP leader asked.

Javadekar said a similar attempt had been made during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, claimed it had failed and predicted that the current agitation would fail, too.

“India will not tolerate the insult of the Tricolour at Red Fort. Action should be taken against all those who instigated the protesters,” he said. A Sikh religious flag had been hoisted atop a vacant pole at Red Fort during Tuesday’s violence and the Tricolour had not been touched.

At a media briefing on cabinet decisions earlier in the day, Javadekar denied that the government had closed its doors for further talks with the farmers.

The foot soldiers of the regime on Wednesday intensified their campaign to malign the farmers’ protest.

“The anarchy we saw on the streets of Delhi, in the name of farmers, has nothing to do with either farm laws or farmers...,” tweeted the BJP’s social media head, Amit Malviya. “It is insurrection against a democratically elected government and if we the people, who elected this government, don’t stand up, they will come for us next!” he added.

The BJP campaign was countered with multiple images on social media showing actor Deep Sidhu, who led the group that hoisted the flag at Red Fort and has been named in an FIR filed by Delhi police, with Modi, party MP Sunny Deol and other leaders.