Amit Shah Defends Voter Roll Revision, Says Nehru And Indira Gandhi Did Vote Chori

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday mounted a strong defence of the Election Commission's ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, rejecting Opposition allegations of voter suppression and accusing the Congress of a long history of electoral manipulation, which he described as "vote chori".

Speaking during a Lok Sabha debate on electoral reforms, Shah said the current cleanup of voter lists was being carried out independently by the Election Commission and not at the direction of the government. He accused Opposition parties of spreading "one-sided falsehoods" to weaken public confidence in the poll panel, particularly among young and first-time voters.

According to Shah, some Opposition leaders were anxious about the removal of illegal immigrants, duplicate entries and ineligible names from the rolls. He said fear of voter deletion was being used as a political tool to create mistrust about the reform exercise.

Shah framed his argument around what he called three historical episodes to support his claim that alleged electoral malpractice did not originate with the BJP. He referred to the post-Independence leadership process involving Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel, the political developments following the 1975 Allahabad High Court verdict against Indira Gandhi, and a civil court dispute regarding Sonia Gandhi's voter registration.

Congress MP K.C. Venugopal objected to the allegations and challenged Shah to substantiate his claims.

The Home Minister said the SIR exercise was aimed at deleting the names of deceased voters, removing foreign nationals, cancelling duplicate entries and enrolling citizens who recently turned 18. He argued that the process fell entirely within the Election Commission's constitutional authority and cited relevant constitutional provisions and court judgments to back his position.

Shah also countered Rahul Gandhi's allegation that hundreds of votes had been cast from a single address in Haryana, saying the election body had already clarified that the property belonged to multiple families.

He accused several Opposition leaders of selectively questioning the Election Commission's credibility depending on election outcomes, and warned that repeated public attacks on the institution could damage democratic trust. The debate saw sharp exchanges in the House, including a brief verbal clash between Shah and Rahul Gandhi.

Concluding his remarks, Shah said large-scale voter roll revisions had been carried out by previous governments without controversy and argued that electoral outcomes were determined by public support, not manipulation of voter lists.