Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday endorsed Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s forceful defence of India’s electoral framework, saying the Home Minister had “demolished misinformation” spread by the Opposition. In a post on X, PM Modi praised Shah for laying out “clear, factual and comprehensive arguments” during his intervention in the Lok Sabha’s debate on election reforms.
Modi highlighted that Shah’s presentation underscored the resilience of India’s democratic processes, and asserted that the Opposition’s allegations were not grounded in facts. His remarks came shortly after Shah delivered a 90-minute speech countering criticisms surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists.
During the heated discussion in the House, Amit Shah accused the Opposition—particularly the Congress—of attempting to delegitimise the electoral system because it “can no longer rely on old methods of manipulation.” He argued that political parties raising objections to SIR were doing so to retain “illegal immigrants” on voter rolls, while the government’s stand is to identify foreign nationals, remove them from the lists and enforce the law uniformly.
Shah gave a detailed rebuttal to allegations of “vote theft,” a charge repeatedly made by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in recent weeks. Gandhi interrupted Shah several times during the session, challenging him to debate his press conferences on the issue. The clashes led to tense exchanges and eventually a walkout by Opposition MPs.
In an aggressive counterattack, Shah alleged that Congress itself had a long history of electoral impropriety, citing three controversial episodes involving Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. He claimed that Nehru becoming Prime Minister despite being backed by fewer votes than Sardar Patel was “the first instance of vote theft,” followed by Indira Gandhi’s continuation in office despite the court invalidating her election. Shah also cited an ongoing court dispute regarding Sonia Gandhi’s voter registration, drawing strong protests from Congress members.
Turning to the current political climate, Shah said the Congress leadership was the real reason behind the party’s repeated defeats. “When they lose a press briefing, they blame the journalist. When they lose a court case, they blame the judge. When they lose elections, they blame EVMs. Now that EVMs won’t work as an excuse, they are shouting vote theft,” he remarked.
