New Delhi: To die for the country is the reflection of the RSS ideology, to take the country to the highest levels of prosperity is the RSS ideology, and it is to uphold the country’s traditions, Amit Shah has said, defending having “people with RSS ideology in important positions”.
The Union Home Minister was responding to Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s charge of the RSS’s “institutional capture”, including of the Election Commission of India (ECI), during Wednesday’s heated discussion on election reforms in the Lok Sabha.
“Rahul Gandhi said that all constitutional institutions have been corrupted… He said people with RSS ideology are being placed in important positions. What is the objection? Has any law been made in this country that people with the RSS ideology cannot hold important positions?” Amit Shah questioned. Adding, “The Prime Minister of the country follows RSS ideology, the home minister of the country follows RSS ideology, and they have come to power through the people’s mandate, not through your grace.”
Opposition MPs staged a walkout during Amit Shah’s address after he accused them of raising issues with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise to keep “illegal immigrants” in the electoral rolls.
Slamming the ‘vote chori’ campaign, Shah said that from 2014—when Narendra Modi had become the PM—to 2025, the Opposition had been complaining about the election machinery. The BJP won 44 elections, including the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, during this period, but the Opposition parties also won seats, he highlighted.
Citing Rahul’s press conference with his “hydrogen bomb” revelations that pointed out discrepancies in the revised Haryana electoral rolls, Amit Shah said that the Congress blamed the election machinery after facing defeats. “But,” he said, “they never blame it when they win…. tab toh app turant shapat le lete hain (then you instantly take oath). If the voter list is corrupt, why take the oath?”
Amit Shah, in a blistering attack on the Congress leadership, said it is the primary reason for the party’s defeat in elections, not the electoral roll or the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). “One day, the Congress workers will ask the reasons behind the losses,” Shah said, in a veiled reference to Rahul Gandhi.
“We, too, were in the Opposition; we have lost more elections than we have won. A quarter of our lives have been spent in the Opposition. But we have never accused the Election Commission or the Chief Election Commissioner,” he said.
In a face-off, both the HM and the LoP accused one another of misleading the House and the public. Rahul challenged Amit Shah to debate him on allegations of electoral fraud.
“Amit Shah ji, I challenge you to have a debate on the three press conferences,” Rahul said. Shah, however, dismissed the interruption before launching into a counter-attack.
‘Congress’s vote chori’
Amit Shah cited Jawaharlal Nehru’s appointment as India’s first Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi’s self-granted legal immunity during the Emergency, and Sonia Gandhi’s position as some instances of “vote-chori” by the Congress.
“After Independence, there was a vote on who would become the country’s Prime Minister. At that time, for the provinces, the election involved one vote each from the respective Congress presidents. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel ji received 28 votes. Two votes went to Jawaharlal Nehru ji. But Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru ji became the PM,” said Shah.
He also alleged that Sonia Gandhi became a voter before acquiring Indian citizenship—a matter that, he said, has reached the court.
Claiming the Congress policy is to normalise infiltration, grant recognition, and formalise it by adding names to the voter list, Shah claimed the Opposition was against SIR because it wanted to shield all infiltrators. “The NDA’s policy is ‘Detect, Delete, Deport’, and we will complete ‘Detect, Delete, Deport’ under the constitutional process,” he added.
When the Opposition staged a walkout during the course of his reply, Shah said, “Why did they flee the House? I wasn’t even talking about the Congress party; I was talking about the infiltrators.”