NEW DELHI: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Thursday repeated his claim that Amit Shah appeared ‘nervous’ and used ‘foul language’ during the Union home minister’s Lok Sabha speech the previous day.Also Read | SIR row debate in Lok Sabha: Rahul Gandhi interrupts Amit Shah with ‘open challenge’; gets ‘I will decide’ reply
“He (Shah) used foul language. His hands were trembling. Mentally, he is under pressure, and it was seen in Parliament. Whatever I had asked, he gave no replies and provided no proof. I challenged him openly to discuss over my press conferences, but nothing happened. Everyone now understands the reality,” Gandhi told reporters.Hitting back, BJP MP Jagdambika Pal asked why Gandhi and the opposition INDIA bloc “ran away” when the home minister was speaking.“Then why did he leave? People who flee, abandoning the field, the country watches them. During the two-day discussion, he (Shah) held a mirror against all the questions raised on electoral reforms and SIR… When people went to the Supreme Court against SIR, the Supreme Court also said there is no reason to stop SIR… So how long will they keep blaming the Election Commission, voter list, EVM for their defeat?” Pal said.Amit Shah vs Rahul GandhiDuring his address on electoral reforms, Shah clashed with Gandhi over the Congress leader’s repeated claims of vote chori’ (theft)” by the Election Commission and the ruling BJP.The Lok Sabha leader of opposition, who has held three press conferences on the issue, challenged the home minister to a debate based on those briefings. In response, Shah remarked that the “House will not function according to his (Gandhi’s) wishes.”The heated exchange erupted when Gandhi interjected during Shah’s address in the Lok Sabha on electoral reforms. Criticising the opposition over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the senior BJP leader argued that he had responses to all their accusations, including those raised in Gandhi’s three press conferences.“In his press conference, the LoP claimed the voter list is flawed and needs correction. That is exactly what SIR is — a process to clean up the rolls. Yet he opposes it. Your defeat is certain; the voter list has nothing to do with it. Double standards won’t work in a democracy. When you win, the EC is great; when you lose, the EC is biased. I have answers to all these allegations — those three press conferences included,” Shah remarked.Gandhi then interrupted and challenged him to a debate. “Yesterday, I asked why Election Commissioners were given full immunity. We want to understand the reasoning behind it. He (Amit Shah) mentioned Haryana, but there are many other examples — including 19 lakh fake voters. Let’s debate my press conferences. Amit Shah ji, I challenge you to a debate on all three,” the Rae Bareli MP asserted.Shah responded that Gandhi could not dictate the order of his speech and should remain patient. “You cannot run Parliament through obstinacy. I will decide the order of my address. The House won’t function like this. He should be patient. I will respond to every point,” he countered.Opposition MPs walked out of the Lok Sabha during Shah’s reply to the discussion on electoral reforms.
