Amit Shah Vs Rahul Gandhi: History Answers Opposition Questions

Amit Shah made it clear that the ongoing SIR by the Election Commission of India is an “exercise to deter forced demographic change.”

By MANISH ANAND

New Delhi, December 11, 2025 — The spate between Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah and leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in the lower house of parliament on Wednesday exemplifies competing narratives of the day. The fiery exchange between the two leaders is now a toast for youtubers who are monetising the video treat.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hailed the speech of Shah in a post on X. Shah in his speech has said that the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls is aimed at checking demographic changes.

Rahul told reporters that Shah’s utterance of an expletive during his speech showed his “nervousness.” Shah, while known for his combativeness in debates, was visibly not in his elements during the debate. That he after a visible struggle gave the example of “Lallan Singh as a victim of Indira Gandhi’s Emergency excesses” should be seen as his lack of focus.

Lallan Singh (Rajiv Ranjan Singh) is currently a Union Minister and hails from the Janata Dal (United). His links with the Emergency aren’t widely known. Shah instantly could have given several examples from his own party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), such as LK Advani, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, or socialists among George Ferndades and many more.

But Shah made it clear that the ongoing SIR by the Election Commission of India is an “exercise to deter forced demographic change.” AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi bluntly said that the “SIR is meant to disenfranchise Muslims.” Owaisi also linked fewer Muslims in the Lok Sabha as MPs as a trend.

But Rahul showed that his expectations from parliament exceed norms. He demanded that the “Lok Sabha should hold a discussion on his three press conferences on Vote Chori.”

Shah made it clear that the history can answer all questions of the Opposition. Why was the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) given immunity? Why was the Chief Justice of India (CJI) removed from the selection panel of the CEC? Why same person votes in elections in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh? Rahul asked direct answers from Shah.

The Home Minister answered with Indira Gandhi excesses—Rae Bareli, Allahabad High Court verdict subversion, and Emergency. Sonia Gandhi becoming a voter before taking up citizenship added to Shah’s ammunitions.

Congress MP KC Venugopal accused Shah of “misleading the House with factually incorrect” claims on Sonia Gandhi. He challenged Shah to substantiate his claims. But the Chair didn’t ask Shah to lay down the paper to prove his charges.

The discussion in the Lok Sabha on election reforms failed to answer questions of the Opposition. But the treasury sent out the message loud and clear that the SIR has a business with the BJP’s perception of “forced change of democracy.”

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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