Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday slammed Congress for creatng a ruckus in the Parliament during the ongoing debate on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Speaking during the debate in the Lok Sabha, Shah said the Opposition has been raising the issue for several months and added that he wanted to explain when and how vote theft actually took place in the country.
Amit Shah told the House that vote theft rests on three clear foundations. First, when a person who does not meet eligibility criteria is registered as a voter, it amounts to vote theft. Second, winning an election through improper or unfair means also qualifies as vote theft. Third, acquiring a position of power that goes against the mandate of votes cast is another form of vote theft. Shah said all three situations fall squarely under the definition of vote theft.
Three times 'vote chori' attack on Congress
The Home Minister outlined what he termed as three major instances of "vote chori" in independent India, directly targeting senior leaders of the Congress. Shah claimed that the first instance of vote theft in India occurred during the selection of the country's first Prime Minister. He said that at the time, the Prime Minister was to be chosen through votes by Congress presidents of the provinces that existed then. "Out of those votes, 28 were in favour of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, while only two votes went to Jawaharlal Nehru. Despite this, Jawaharlal Nehru was made the Prime Minister," Shah claimed following which Congress MPs created a ruckus in the House.
The Home Minister then alleged that the second instance was during the tenure of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He said vote theft occurred when Indira Gandhi granted herself legal immunity after a court had set aside her election.
Referring to the third case, Shah said the matter has now reached the civil courts. He questioned the circumstances under which Sonia Gandhi became a voter before acquiring Indian citizenship, terming it another example of vote theft.
'Leadership is reason for Congress losses'
Shah also launched a direct attack on the Congress leadership for the grand old party's repeated electoral setbacks. "These vote thieves kept stealing votes, carried out an ‘infiltrator protection march’, and yet our government was formed in Bihar with a two-thirds majority. This is a new tradition they have started. When they fail to win elections in the country, they defame the Election Commission, the election process, and the voter lists. The real reason for their defeat is their leadership, not EVMs or voter lists. One day, Congress workers themselves will question their leaders about how they managed to lose so many elections," he added.
'SIR of electoral rolls cannot be discussed in Parliament'
Shah clarified that the Election Commission of India does not work under the Central government, explaining that the issue of the SIR of electoral rolls cannot be discussed in the Parliament as it is the responsibility of the ECI. Amit Shah asked, "If questions are asked about the conduct of the Election Commission, then 'who will answer it?'. He further said that the government "immediately" accepted the discussion on electoral reforms, as they fall under the government's purview.
"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 a discussion is held and questions are raised, who will answer it?" Amit Shah said in the Lok Sabha. "When they said that they are ready to discuss electoral reforms, we agreed immediately," he added.
NDA policy is detect, delete, deport illegal infiltrators
The Union Home Minister also launched a sharp attack on the Opposition in the Lok Sabha after its MPs staged a walkout during the discussion. Shah said the Opposition could boycott the House any number of times, but the government would ensure that not a single infiltrator is allowed to vote in the country. After their walkout, Shah clarified that his remarks were focused on pushing infiltrators out of India. He said the Opposition chose to walk out over the issue of infiltrators and not over the allegations he made against former Congress leaders.
"I was speaking about pushing infiltrators out of the country. I levelled numerous allegations against Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, his father and Sonia ji. Had they walked out at that time, it would have been logical. They walked out over infiltrators," Shah said. "Our policy is 'detect, delete and deport'. Their policy is 'normalise infiltration, grant them recognition, include them in vote list during election and formalise this," Shah added.
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