Shah to Rahul: Brace for 2029 rout

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, accusing the Opposition of staging protests against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and warning that the party should brace for another crushing defeat in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing reporters, Shah asserted that the people of the country stand firmly with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and that the Congress cannot reverse this reality through what he described as negative politics.

Shah said the Congress must abandon its current approach and genuinely try to understand public sentiment and connect with voters. “I want to tell Shri Rahul ji and his associates to prepare themselves once again for a crushing defeat in 2029. In the 2029 general elections, the NDA will win with a resounding majority, and the Congress will face defeat for the fourth consecutive time. The people of this country are with Narendra Modi ji, with the BJP, with the NDA. You cannot deny this truth,” he said.

Turning to the Opposition’s ongoing protests against the CEC, Shah questioned Gandhi’s motives and alleged that the Congress leader was seeking to get “infiltrators” registered as voters. He directly challenged the claim that recent electoral outcomes were linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. “I want to ask Shri Rahul Gandhi ji directly: Is this the result of the SIR? The SIR started only after 2024,” Shah said.

He noted that the Congress has suffered continuous electoral setbacks since Gandhi became its principal leader, later its president, and now Leader of the Opposition. “You need to engage in introspection. You cannot win the trust of the country’s people through fabricated media events and echoes of lies,” Shah added.

Shah further argued that Gandhi was dismissing the BJP and Modi’s popularity by attributing outcomes to the SIR exercise. He pointed to the Congress’s long-term decline in a major State where the party once held power, observing that it has failed to win a single election there in 41 years. “This demands serious introspection on their part,” he said.

To underscore his point, Shah cited recent by-elections held in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry. He stated that the Congress failed to win a single seat in any of these contests. In Nagaon, the BJP candidate defeated the Congress by 1,42,000 votes and wrested the seat. In Nandigram, the BJP candidate secured 76 per cent of the vote and won by 1,22,000 votes. In Rejinagar in West Bengal, the BJP won by more than 75,000 votes, taking the seat from the Trinamool Congress. In Puducherry, the NDA candidate from ally AINRC won by 8,482 votes, while the Congress got only 22 per cent of the vote.

Shah made these comments while the Opposition continues to criticise the Election Commission and the SIR process, which parties like the Congress claim is being used to disenfranchise voters. The Home Minister pointed to the by-election results and Congress’s overall electoral record as proof that the party’s confrontational approach is not connecting with voters. He said the NDA’s strong position shows that people support the government’s work, not that the electoral rolls are being manipulated.

Shah linked Gandhi’s leadership to a series of defeats and pointed out that Congress has not won any recent by-elections. He argued that the Opposition’s protests are meant to distract from its own organisational and political problems. Shah repeated that Congress should reflect on its own actions, rather than what he called negative politics, if it wants to win back public trust before the next general election.

The statements reinforce the ruling alliance’s view that election results still favour the NDA, and that questioning the Election Commission does not change the main political situation. Shah’s direct message to Gandhi and his colleagues to get ready for another loss in 2029 showed the BJP’s confidence in its path and its belief that the Opposition has little chance of winning.

Rahul vows to continue fight for democracy

New Delhi:  The Opposition INDIA bloc and civil society on Tuesday vowed to unitedly fight what they called the “restoration of the democratic process in the country”, with Rahul Gandhi asserting that the political and people’s resistance would continue and will triumph.

Addressing media after deliberations with INDIA bloc and civil society members at his residence, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha said this is the opposition’s commitment that the people who have indulged in “vote chori” would be brought to justice, naming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.

Rahul hosted Opposition leaders from the grouping, along with civil society members and student leaders, for tea at his residence.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi and several opposition leaders, including Tejashwi Yadav and Manoj Jha of the RJD, Mahua Maji (JMM), Harender Malik, Anand Bhadauria and Mohibullah Nadvi (SP), MA Baby (CPI-M), D Raja and P Sandosh Kumar (CPI), AISA chief Neha Bora, Dipankar Bhattacharya (CPI-ML) and Mahua Moitra (TMC), attended the tea at Rahul Gandhi’s 5, Sunehri Bagh Road, residence.

The LoP also said it deeply respects the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and hoped they would play their role in this process. “We have extreme respect for the Supreme Court, for the Chief Justice of India, for the judicial system. They have a role to play; we hope they will.

He said that it is not simple that some “destroy” India’s Constitution and get away with it, and assured people of action against those who have indulged in “vote chori”.

“It is our commitment that the people who have done this -- Mr Modi, who is the main architect, Amit Shah, who is the implementer, Gyanesh Kumar and others -- they need to understand that the net is closing around them... We assure you that all would be brought to justice,” he asserted.

The former Congress chief also thanked people for participating in the massive protest on the streets, after they participated in the protest march to the Supreme Court. He asserted that what they saw during the Monday protest was “an expression not of political parties standing here, but of the people of India”.

SIR row: Supreme Court defers hearing to October 15

New Delhi: As the INDIA Bloc leaders led by Rahul Gandhi were busy formulating a joint strategy for continuing protests over alleged vote theft and electoral roll irregularities, the Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred to October 15 the hearing on pleas related to protests against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi and the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The hearing was postponed after Justice V Mohana fell ill, with the parties agreeing to the adjournment. The matters were listed before a bench headed by CJI Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana.

The top court also sought the presence of a senior Delhi Police officer to respond to allegations by women journalists that they were assaulted while covering the protests.

The bench also issued notice on a fresh petition filed by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act.

The Supreme Court also agreed to hear on October 15 a plea seeking a complete ban on political demonstrations within the court premises and contempt proceedings against political leaders who obstruct the judicial system.

During the hearing, the CJI informed the petitioners that Justice Mohana was unwell but still came to the court. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta urged the bench to adjourn the hearing, saying the bench should not ignore health issues. Other senior advocates, including Gopal Sankaranarayanan, also agreed to the deferment.

Mehta told the bench that the time granted to the Centre to file its response on the plea alleging contempt for disobeying the apex court’s direction not to completely halt metro and train services ahead of the October 10 protest was till Tuesday.

The bench extended the time to file the affidavit and said the same be supplied to the counsel appearing for the petitioners. Besides the Solicitor General and Sankaranarayanan, senior advocates Menaka Guruswamy, Arundhati Katju, CU Singh, Nitya Ramakrishnan and Indira Jaising appeared in the proceedings.

The provision grants immunity to the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners for certain acts undertaken in the discharge of their official duties. ADR has challenged the constitutional validity of the provision.

On October 9, a bench led by the CJI directed the Centre not to completely suspend train and metro services in Delhi in anticipation of a protest scheduled for October 10 by the Cockroach Janta Party and others.

Advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi subsequently filed a contempt petition alleging that the authorities had closed metro stations and restricted train services despite the court’s directions. The petition alleged that authorities picked up some leaders from their residences and took them to undisclosed locations before they could reach the protest site.

RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha also approached the top court, alleging disproportionate use of force, illegal detention and house arrest of protesters, students, lawyers and political leaders, as well as sexual harassment of women protesters.

The Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association has sought an independent, impartial and time-bound inquiry into the alleged illegal detention and manhandling of lawyers by Delhi Police during the October 10 protest march. The Supreme Court Bar Association has also approached the court over the alleged manhandling and detention of lawyers near the Supreme Court.