Amit Shah counters Rahul Gandhi’s vote chori allegations, defends Election Commission in fiery Lok Sabha speech

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday slammed the Opposition for allegedly spreading “one-sided lies” about the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls exercise, claiming that attempts were made to mislead the people of the country.

Speaking on electoral reforms in the Lok Sabha, Shah countered Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi’s “vote chori” allegations, saying the ECI has clarified the matter and neither house addresses nor voters were fake.

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“On 5th November 2025, LoP Rahul Gandhi defused a ‘Hydrogen Bomb’ in a press conference. He said that 501 votes were cast from just one house in Haryana. EC clarified everything. Neither the house nor the voters are fake…,” Shah said.

Rahul Gandhi-Amit Shah face-off

As Shah spoke about Rahul Gandhi’s “vote chori” press conferences, the LoP interjected and said that the House can have a debate on his press conferences.

“Let’s have a debate on my press conference. Amit Shah ji, I challenge you to have a debate on my three press conferences,” Rahul said.

The Congress leader asked Amit Shah to respond to his question about what was the government’s thinking behind giving the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) immunity from any punishment for his action during his tenure.

Shah responded by saying, “Aapki marzi se Sansad nahi chalegi. Mere bolne ka kram main tay karunga… Mere bhashan ka kram woh tay nahi kar sakte, main tay karunga. (Parliament will not function according to their wishes. I will decide the sequence of my speech).”

Rahul again interupted the home minister, saying, “His (Amit Shah’s) response is defensive. It is a panicked response.”

Responding calmly, Shah said, “I will not fall for his provocation. I had only said i will decide the sequence of my… I even said that I will answer every question.”

Shah lists three historical examples of ‘Vote Chori’

The home minister listed three historical instances of what he described reflects the real “vote chori”.

He first questioned Jawaharlal Nehru’s election as the first Prime Minister of India after Independence.

“After Independence, when the country was chosing the first Prime Minister, at that time, 28 votes went to Sardar Patel and 2 votes to Jawaharlal Nehru, and yet Nehru was appointed… This was the firat vote chori,” he said.

The second type of vote theft, Shah said, took place when Indira Gandhi was elected from Raebareli in 1971 Lok Sabha election and the Allahabad High Court declared that void over election malpractices.

“Indira Gandhi was elected from Raebareli. One Raj Narain went to the Allahabad High Court and said that this election did not happen according to the rules. The Allahabad High Court ruled that this election was not won in the proper manner, so it is being canceled. After that, to cover up this ‘vote theft’, a law was brought in Parliament that no case can be filed against the Prime Minister,” Shah stated.

He said that when an ineligible person becomes a voter, it is also considered a case of Vote Chori and cited the dispute filed in Delhi’s civil court alleging that Congress leader Sonia Gandhi was not the citizen of India when she was added to the electoral rolls.

However, Congress MP KC Venugopal countered this claim, saying Sonia Gandhi didn’t even vote in that election and asked Shah to prove otherwise.

The home minister clarified that he only mentioned that a case has been filed and notice has been issued to Sonia Gandhi in this regard. “There is no need to get angry over this,” he quipped.

Opposition trying to tarnish Election Commission’s image

Shah said that the BJP remained in Opposition for years and lost many elections but never levelled allegations against the poll panel.

“The Constitution has given the right to hold elections to the ECI. The Opposition is trying to destroy its image. They are not defaming the government, but damaging India’s democracy before the world,” the home minister remarked.

He further stated that the BJP has won 44 elections (3 Lok Sabha elelctions and 41 Assembly elections) since 2014 but the Opposition has also won 30 elections during the same period.

“So if the voter list is corrupt then why did you take the oath after winning these elections…,” he questioned.

He claimed that the Opposition tries to tarnish the image of the Election Commission only after losing the election.

On Opposition’s charge of fake voter list, the home minister contended that the SIR exercise is meant to fix those issues.

Taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi, Shah said that Congress is losing the elections because of its leadership. “Chunav harne ki wajah inka netritva hai (leadership is the reason behind their electoral defeats)”