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Amit Shah asserted that the Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body tasked with free and fair elections and accused the Opposition of spreading lies on SIR.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressing the Lok Sabha.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday addressed the Lok Sabha, where he accused the Opposition parties, particularly Congress, of misleading the country on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls currently underway in different states.
Shah asserted that the Election Commission of India (ECI), responsible for carrying out the SIR exercise, is a constitutional body and does not work as per the directives of the Indian government. He said it was the responsibility of the ECI to conduct free and fair elections.
“At the start of the session, there was significant uproar from the opposition, creating a false impression among the public that we are avoiding a discussion on electoral reforms. We have never shied away from any discussion, as Parliament is the biggest ‘Panchayat’ in the country. The opposition is demanding a detailed review of SIR, which is not possible because it falls under the jurisdiction of the Election Commission. We do not conduct elections,” he said.
लोकसभा में चुनाव सुधारों पर आयोजित चर्चा से लाइव…Speaking in the Lok Sabha on election reforms. https://t.co/YcV3of7Q6M
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) December 10, 2025
‘Will Infiltrators Decide?’
Amit Shah also stated that the discussion was supposed to be on election reforms, but the Opposition focused solely on the SIR exercise. He accused Opposition parties, particularly the Congress, of spreading one-sided lies about the SIR and misleading the people of the country.
The Home Minister noted that the first SIR was carried out in 1952 under former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He added that multiple SIRs took place during Congress administrations, including those led by Nehru and Indira Gandhi. He also emphasised that the Election Commission is conducting the SIR in accordance with its constitutional responsibility.
Shah questioned how a country could remain secure if individuals who are not legally part of the electorate were able to cast votes. “Can any democracy remain safe if the Prime Minister of the nation or the Chief Minister of a state is decided by infiltrators? Should anyone be allowed to have their name registered as a voter in more than one place? Should the names of people who have already passed away continue to appear on the voter list? The SIR process is simply meant to correct such discrepancies.”
“However, some parties feel politically threatened by it. In fact, I even feel a certain sympathy for them, because the people of this country are no longer voting for them. They were hoping that a few outsiders would help them, but even that will not remain,” he added.
Rahul Gandhi, Shah Spar Over Vote Chori
Amit Shah also hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his voter fraud claims in Haryana. “He mentioned that in Haryana, 501 households were affected. The Election Commission clarified that House Number 265 is not a small house; it is on a one-acre plot with multiple families living there. However, individual house numbers were not assigned to each family, so multiple generations of a single family could be living under House Number 501,” he said.
The address turned into a heated face-off when Rahul Gandhi interrupted his speech and repeated his claims of 19 lakh ‘fake’ voters in Haryana, before challenging Shah to hold a debate over his ‘Hydrogen Bomb’ press conference on alleged vote theft. Amit Shah angrily replied that he will address the House on his own terms and will not be provoked by Gandhi’s challenges.
“The Parliament won’t function as per your wishes. I will decide what to speak. The Parliament won’t function in this way. He should have the patience to listen to my answers,” Shah said.
‘Tarnishing India’s Image’
Shah also lashed out at the INDIA bloc leaders, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and others for spreading false accusations against the ECI.
“Earlier, this tradition was reserved for Congress. But now, the entire INDIA alliance is against the Election Commission,” he said. “This (SIR) is a constitutional process. By raising questions and false accusations on this exercise, you are tarnishing the image of the body in front of the world. You think you are tarnishing the image of the government, but you are tarnishing the image of India’s democracy.”
He also said that the BJP had lost several elections, but never accused the ECI for their losses. He said the reason for Congress’ repeated defeats was its leadership and not the voter list.
Click here to add News18 as your preferred news source on Google. December 10, 2025, 17:01 IST
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