PM Modi Hails Amit Shah’s Forceful Rebuttal in Parliament as Home Minister Dismantles Opposition’s ‘Vote Theft’ Allegations

Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday praised Home Minister Amit Shah for delivering what he called an “outstanding and fact-driven” address in Parliament amid an intense debate over the credibility of India’s electoral system. Posting on X, the Prime Minister said Shah had presented a clear and comprehensive explanation that not only defended the strength of India’s democratic processes but also “exposed misinformation” being spread by the Opposition.

Shah’s speech, delivered during a discussion on election reforms in the Lok Sabha, directly countered Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of large-scale “vote theft”. Despite repeated interruptions from Opposition members, the Home Minister went point-by-point, dismantling the claims and providing documentary references, historical context, and clarifications issued by the Election Commission.

One of the key points in his rebuttal involved Gandhi’s assertion that over 500 voters in Haryana were listed under one address. Shah cited the Election Commission’s clarification that the cited “House No. 265” was, in fact, a large ancestral compound with multiple dwellings housing several families—who have voted from the same address for generations, including during Congress governments.

The Home Minister also claimed that a voter from Bihar had admitted to being pressured by the Congress to make false statements regarding voter list irregularities, a revelation that sparked a fierce uproar in the House. Shah further reminded the Opposition of its own historic controversies, citing incidents ranging from alleged internal manipulation during the Nehru–Patel leadership vote to the 1975 Allahabad High Court verdict that invalidated Indira Gandhi’s election victory, eventually triggering the Emergency.

Addressing criticism of the SIR (Systematic Identification and Registration) process, Shah said the mechanism was not new and traced its origins to multiple Congress administrations. Describing it as a long-established “electoral roll purification exercise,” he noted that earlier governments under Nehru, Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and Narasimha Rao had all overseen similar operations.