Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday told the Lok Sabha that there could be no discussion in Parliament on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as it falls within the domain of the Election Commission, which functions independently of the government.
“For two days, we told the Opposition that this should be discussed later, after two Sessions. But they didn’t relent. We agreed…Why did we say ‘No’? There were two reasons for the ‘No’. One, they wanted a discussion on SIR. I am very clear that there cannot be a discussion on SIR in this House. SIR is the responsibility of the Election Commission. India’s EC and CEC do not work under the Government. If discussion is held and questions are raised, who will answer it? When they said that they are ready to discuss electoral reforms, we agreed immediately,” Home Minister Shah said.
Meanwhile, a heated debate erupted in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday when Union Home Minister Amit Shah confronted Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi during a discussion on electoral reforms. When the LoP raised questions about the reforms, Shah asserted that “Parliament will not function at your behest” and challenged the Home Minister to debate his three press conferences.
Amit Shah also slammed Rahul Gandhi, saying that he “cannot dictate the order of speaking” after the LoP pressed the Home Minister to “answer his question from yesterday first.”
Amit Shah also accused the opposition of trying to create a “false narrative” on electoral reforms and dismissed LoP Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of “vote theft” as politically motivated.
Home Minister Shah stated that the SIR being conducted by the Election Commission (EC) is a constitutional and long-standing process designed to improve the voter rolls by removing the names of deceased persons and foreign nationals.
Amit Shah asked, “Should illegal immigrants be allowed to participate in elections?”
Countering the opposition’s claim that the SIR is politically motivated, Home Minister Amit Shah said that detailed revisions were conducted several times between 1952 and 2004, almost entirely under Congress governments.
Home Minister Shah asked, “From Jawaharlal Nehru to Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Narasimha Rao, and Manmohan Singh – nobody ever objected to these in-depth revisions. Why is there so much anger now?”
Amit Shah further added, “History makes some people uncomfortable, but no process or society can move forward without history.”
Home Minister Shah further stated that for four months, “one-sided lies” were spread to mislead citizens about the SIR. He accused the opposition parties of being “upset that people don’t vote for them” and claimed that this crackdown would “remove the illegal immigrants who support them.”
(With Agencies’ Inputs)
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