The Lok Sabha on Wednesday witnessed a sharp confrontation between Home Minister Amit Shah and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi as discussions on electoral reforms escalated into heated arguments and disruptions, eventually prompting an Opposition walkout.
Shah defended the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as essential for identifying undocumented migrants, while Rahul Gandhi challenged him to a debate on his recent allegations of “vote theft.”
Congress: ‘Home Minister was reading a script’
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi criticised Shah’s response, accusing him of ignoring the questions raised by Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, Kalyan Banerjee, and Supriya Sule.
“We thought the Home Minister would answer the Opposition’s concerns. Instead, I believe he was given a script and simply read from it,” Gogoi said.
He also questioned Shah’s claim that the voter list was “polluted,” asking why these concerns were not raised during the Lok Sabha election campaign.
Congress leader Supriya Shrinate echoed the criticism, saying Shah was quoting “passages from WhatsApp University” and asked how many infiltrators were identified during SIR in Bihar.
Shrinate also claimed that during the UPA years (2004–2014), more than 88,000 infiltrators were removed from India, compared with 2,400 during the last 11 years under the NDA government.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that “someone who is blameless doesn’t give such a lengthy explanation.”
BJP: ‘Opposition walkout was utterly shameful’
As the Home Minister spoke, the Opposition staged a walkout—an action the BJP strongly condemned.
BJP MP Tejasvi Surya said the walkout reflected a lack of patience and conviction.
“It is utterly shameful that the Opposition walked out when the Home Minister was answering each of their questions,” Surya said.
“For years they have been spreading misinformation about SIR and EVMs, and when answers were finally given, they refused to listen.”
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma praised Shah’s speech, writing on X that he had “taken the Opposition’s propaganda on SIR to the cleaners.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also hailed the speech as “outstanding,” stating that Shah had presented “concrete facts” and exposed “the lies of the Opposition.”
Union minister Piyush Goyal defended SIR, calling it a transparent and necessary exercise to clean voter rolls. He said the Opposition walked out because they objected to steps taken to eliminate fraudulent entries.
“Their walkout shows they lack public support and are relying on infiltrator votes,” Goyal alleged.
