Amit Shah hits back at Rahul Gandhi after BJP’s strong Gujarat civic poll performance
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his allegations concerning the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, urging him to examine the reasons behind the Congress’s repeated election defeats.
Shah’s remarks came after the BJP secured 90 of the 104 seats across three urban local bodies in Gujarat. The party also won 38 of the 44 seats in the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation, strengthening its position in the state.
Addressing reporters in Delhi, Shah argued that the Congress’s electoral setbacks could not be attributed to SIR, which he said came into effect only after the 2024 general elections. He challenged Gandhi to reflect on the party’s performance under his leadership.
The Home Minister cited the Congress’s prolonged absence from power in Tripura and its lack of electoral success in West Bengal and Gujarat as examples of what he described as a broader political problem.
Shah also maintained that the Congress had suffered defeats even when elections were conducted using ballot papers. He accused the opposition party of pursuing negative politics and questioned its commitment to democratic and constitutional principles.
Referring specifically to Gujarat, Shah said the Congress had not won an election in the state since 1985, portraying the BJP’s continued electoral dominance as evidence that factors beyond electoral-roll revisions were responsible for the opposition’s poor results.
Rahul Gandhi has been leading protests by the INDIA bloc demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The opposition has raised concerns about the conduct of elections and the electoral-roll revision process.
The exchange adds to the continuing political confrontation between the BJP and Congress over electoral transparency, election administration and the reasons behind their contrasting electoral fortunes.