Amit Shah challenges Rahul Gandhi to debate on voter list revision

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday, addressing a rally in Karnal, Haryana, threw an open challenge to Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for a debate on the issue of Special Revision of Electoral Rolls (SIR).

Shah said that if Rahul Gandhi wants to discuss this issue, he should write a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the government is ready to call a special session of Parliament. Along with this, he said that the Congress leader can come to any chowk in Haryana and debate this issue with the BJP Yuva Morcha president as well.

The Home Minister was addressing the concluding ceremony of the party's 'Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy' campaign after a foot march taken out from Sector 12 to Dayanand Chowk in Karnal. He alleged that instead of debating in Parliament, Congress is spreading anarchy on the streets and blaming the Election Commission and voter lists for election defeats.

Rejecting the Congress allegations of names being deleted from voter lists, Shah said that out of the removed voters, 2.8 crore people had died, 6.25 crore had moved to other states, and 1 crore had dual registrations. He claimed that the remaining 3 crore people were infiltrators, who will be removed from the lists and driven out of the country.

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini also addressed the rally. He said that the biggest strength of democracy is the vote of an ordinary citizen and Congress is spreading false propaganda about the revision of voter lists. Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, BJP leader Smriti Irani and state president Dr. Archana Gupta were also present on this occasion.

Key developments

• Amit Shah challenged Rahul Gandhi to a debate on voter list revision during the Karnal rally.
• The government stated that a special session of Parliament can be called if Rahul Gandhi writes a letter.
• The Home Minister countered the opposition's allegations regarding deletion of names from voter lists by giving details.
• Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini accused Congress of spreading confusion regarding the Election Commission's process.