Agencies | Lucknow:
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday challenged Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav to debate the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in a special session of Parliament, asserting that the BJP was ready to discuss the controversy and had “nothing to hide”.
Shah’s challenge came amid escalating tensions between the ruling BJP and the opposition INDIA bloc over the SIR exercise, with opposition parties accusing the Election Commission of undermining electoral democracy and demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
Addressing the Uttar Pradesh BJP state executive committee meeting in Lucknow, Shah said the party was prepared to discuss the issue in Parliament and challenged the opposition leaders to agree to a special session.
“I challenge you both right here and now: the Bharatiya Janata Party is fully prepared to discuss this in Parliament. We have nothing to hide. Let us convene a special session of Parliament,” he said.
Accusing the opposition of repeatedly disrupting parliamentary proceedings, Shah questioned its willingness to debate the issue on the floor of the House.
“But they have no intention of speaking there. They refuse to let Parliament function; instead, they just create a ruckus,” he said.
The Home Minister also accused opposition parties of questioning the Election Commission whenever they lose elections rather than accepting the people’s mandate.
“Instead of accepting defeat, they began accusing the umpire of cheating, claiming that votes were stolen,” Shah said.
The exchange comes ahead of a series of INDIA bloc protests against the SIR exercise and CEC Gyanesh Kumar. The opposition alliance is scheduled to hold a mega rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on Sunday, November 1, demanding the rollback of the revision exercise and the CEC’s resignation.
As part of its campaign, the opposition had also planned a symbolic “mock Parliament”, subsequently described as a “public impeachment” of the CEC. The programme, originally scheduled for Friday, was postponed due to rainfall and is now expected to be held on October 31, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge slated to move the proposed motion.
The opposition’s public mobilisation is aimed at highlighting what it describes as serious concerns over the SIR process and its implications for the integrity of electoral rolls.
Addressing a media briefing on Friday, Rahul Gandhi appealed to people from different sections of society to participate in the November 1 rally, saying the protest was open to political parties, civil society groups, journalists and members of the public.
“All the opposition, everybody who wants to come: political, non-political, social, service people, civil society people, journalists. Both the programmes are about the demolition of Indian democracy by Narendra Modi, by Amit Shah, by Gyanesh Kumar and his crew in the Election Commission,” Gandhi said.
Gandhi also alleged that efforts were being made to prevent people from reaching Delhi for the rally, particularly those travelling from BJP-ruled and opposition-ruled states.
“The Home Minister is trying his best to stop people from coming into Delhi, trying to ensure that our party members, common people who want to come from UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Telangana, Punjab, are being stopped,” he alleged.
With the BJP defending the Election Commission and the opposition stepping up its campaign against the SIR exercise, the controversy has emerged as a fresh flashpoint between the two sides, setting the stage for a politically charged confrontation in Parliament and on the streets of the national capital.
