Rahul Gandhi–Amit Shah Clash in Lok Sabha Over Electoral Reforms and Voter List Cleanup

There was a heated debate between Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and union Home Minister Amit Shah in the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament on Wednesday over electoral reforms.

As Shah was countering opposition charges on “vote chori”, Gandhi stood up to remind Shah and the House that he had highlighted the immunity granted to the Election Commission.

“Speaker Sir, I had a question yesterday, which was the first time in the history of India that a decision was taken that election commissioners will be given full immunity,” the Congress leader said, adding that, “The thinking behind this should be told to us first.”

Gandhi also pointed out that he had highlighted the high number of ‘fake voters” in Haryana, and sought a debate on the entire issue.

As the House rose in an uproar, the home minister said, “I have been a member of the Parliament and parliamentary committee for 30 years. The Opposition's leader says, first you answer my question, I want to hear. I will decide what to say. This will not work in the Parliament. … they (opposition) should have the courage, they should have the courage to hear my answer.”

Shah stressed that the SIR exercise is a constitutional responsibility of the Election Commission of India (ECI), which functions independently and is not answerable to the government.

“Parliament is not the right place to debate the SIR,” Shah asserted, emphasizing that the government welcomes discussions on electoral reforms but SIR lies within the EC’s purview.

Defending the SIR as a “necessary process to cleanse the voter lists”, aimed at removing names of deceased individuals, foreign nationals, and illegal infiltrators from the rolls, the minister said without it, the integrity of democracy itself was at risk.

Acknowledging that some political parties may lose voter bases due to the cleanup, he expressed sympathy for them while underscoring that genuine voters support a clean electoral process.

Addressing Opposition allegations, Shah highlighted what he called their double standards. “When they win, the Election Commission is great; when we win, they say it is flawed.”

He pointed out that the BJP lost elections in states like Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Tamil Nadu without questioning the EC’s credibility, yet the opposition accuses the EC only after BJP victories.

He also recalled that EVMs were first used in 2004 and 2009 when the Congress won but complaints about them began only after 2014.