Amit Shah attacks Rahul Gandhi as BJP rally defends contested voter-roll exercise in Haryana
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At a BJP rally in Karnal, Union Home Minister Amit Shah dismissed Rahul Gandhi's criticism of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, tying Congress setbacks to the opposition's complaints while accusing the INDIA bloc of shielding illegal immigrants rather than voters.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday used the concluding rally of the BJP's "Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao" campaign in Karnal, Haryana, to go after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's criticism of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Shah ridiculed the opposition's objections and asked why the same alarm had not been raised when the party suffered defeats in the 2014 and 2019 general elections, adding that Congress also lost the 2024 Lok Sabha poll and recent state elections in Haryana and Maharashtra without any SIR exercise in place.
"Rahul Gandhi is frustrated by these defeats and is blaming the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) for them. Rahul Gandhi, where was SIR in 2014, when the Congress suffered a complete defeat? Where was it in 2019, when you lost?" Shah said.
Shah further claimed that the INDIA bloc's planned rally was aimed at protecting illegal immigrants rather than defending voters' rights, sharpening the BJP's hardline framing of the issue. He also pointed to the Haryana Assembly election, recalling that former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and other Congress leaders had arrived at their party office with sweets in hand, expecting victory, only to be defeated.
"Since the 2024 elections, people across the country have repeatedly voted against Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party in various elections. The first election was held in our Haryana," Shah said.
The rally concluded a nationwide campaign that ran from October 22 to November 5, with Shah claiming that the huge turnouts reflected strong public backing for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The event also featured a padyatra attended by Shah, Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and BJP leader Smriti Irani.
The opposition has warned that the SIR process could result in wrongful deletions from electoral rolls and disenfranchise voters, but the BJP has rejected those concerns and defended the Election Commission's actions.