Shah offers special Parliament session to debate SIR; Rahul dares Modi to open debate on 'foreign help'

The political row over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls grew sharper on Monday. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the government was ready to call a special session of Parliament to debate the opposition's allegations, while Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to an open debate.

The exchanges came a day after INDIA bloc parties held a rally at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan to protest against the SIR and demand the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Shah's challenge in Hyderabad

Speaking at a BJP padayatra in Hyderabad held under the banner 'Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy', Shah dared Rahul Gandhi to debate the 'vote chori' allegations in Parliament, according to reports. He said the government was ready to convene a special session and invited the Congress leader to come for a debate.

Shah called the opposition's Sunday event a rally to protect infiltrators and claimed the Congress was opposing the revision to shield what he described as its vote bank. He disputed Gandhi's claim that 13 crore names had been removed from the rolls. According to Shah, about 6.15 crore voters had moved, about 3 crore were dead or did not exist, and about 1 crore were duplicate entries. These figures could not be independently verified. He also asked how the Congress had won Assembly elections in Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh if voting machines were faulty.

Rahul Gandhi's counter

Earlier on Monday, Gandhi posted on X that Modi had become Prime Minister and stayed in office because of 'foreign help'. He claimed that foreign interests control and support the Prime Minister's financial system and that foreign social media platforms back him. Gandhi challenged Modi to an open debate at a stage and time of his choosing. He did not say which foreign forces he meant.

The post followed remarks by BJP president Nitin Nabin in Bhagalpur, who alleged that Gandhi was being used by a foreign-backed 'toolkit' to create instability. Over the weekend, Modi had called the opposition an 'avrodh paksh', or obstructionist side, rather than a genuine opposition. BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi separately said in Bhubaneswar that political parties appoint booth-level agents to monitor the revision and asked why the Congress had not raised objections earlier.

Reports by late Monday did not carry a formal response from the Congress to Shah's offer of a special session, or from the Prime Minister to Gandhi's challenge.

What it means

The SIR of electoral rolls is under way in several states. With both sides now talking about a debate, attention will turn to whether the government formally moves to call a special session and how the Election Commission responds to the opposition's charges.