Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday challenged the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, to stop making allegations against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls on the streets and instead come forward for a debate in Parliament.
Addressing a gathering in Karnal after leading the BJP’s Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao padyatra, Shah accused the Congress leader of spreading misinformation, undermining democratic institutions and shielding infiltrators.
Shah said that the BJP was ready to discuss the issue in Parliament, the State Assemblies or any public forum.
Shah even offered to convene a special session of Parliament exclusively to discuss SIR, asking Rahul Gandhi to write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi if he wanted a detailed discussion on the exercise.
Several BJP leaders, including Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, also challenged the Congress leader to initiate the debate, and they are ready to do so on a proper platform. Vaishnaw asked the Congress to hold a debate on the SIR of electoral rolls in Parliament, saying that whenever the Congress requested a discussion on any subject, it was facilitated.
At Ambala, the Home Minister inaugurated the Azadi ki Pehli Ladai (1857) ka Shaheed Smarak and paid tribute to the freedom fighters who laid down their lives in India’s First War of Independence. He asserted that the BJP would seek votes in Haryana in 2029 only after fulfilling all its promises, commitments and guarantees made to the people.
Paying homage to the martyrs of 1857, Shah said Ambala occupied a special place in India’s freedom struggle.
It was here, on May 10, 1857, that revolutionaries raised the banner of resistance against British rule, triggering an uprising that spread across the country and challenged the foundations of the British Empire.
Turning his attention to Punjab, Shah criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the demand for a legal guarantee on MSP. Referring to Gandhi’s visits to Punjab during the campaign against drug abuse, Shah said farmers kept raising the issue of an MSP guarantee.
In a sarcastic remark, he said Rahul Gandhi had given farmers a ‘jhunjhuna’ (rattle) instead of an MSP guarantee. Shah said that if a BJP-NDA government came to power in Punjab, farmers would no longer need to carry placards demanding an MSP guarantee. He also said Haryana had intensified its campaign against drug abuse and was committed to making the State drug-free.