NEW DELHI, Dec. 10 — Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday accused the Congress party of losing elections due to leadership failures rather than flaws in voter rolls or alleged electoral malpractices, delivering a pointed critique in the Lok Sabha during the debate on electoral reforms.
Addressing the House in the presence of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Shah said the principal opposition party habitually blamed external factors for its defeats instead of confronting internal weaknesses. “The reason Congress is losing elections, not vote chori or special intensive revision of electoral rolls. Congress is losing elections because of its leadership issues,” he said.
Shah alleged that Congress had a long history of manipulating elections. Citing historical examples, he said, “In 1946, as many as 28 provincial Congress committees voted for Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to become Congress president and Prime Minister of free India. Jawaharlal Nehru got only two votes. But who became the Prime Minister of independent India? Jawaharlal Nehru.”
The Home Minister also referenced the annulled Rae Bareli election of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by the Allahabad High Court, calling it “vote theft on a mass scale,” and noted that she amended the Constitution and later reorganised the Supreme Court to secure the case’s outcome in her favour. He further mentioned an ongoing Delhi court dispute alleging that former Congress president Sonia Gandhi became a voter before acquiring Indian citizenship. Shah said he would respond further once the matter is addressed by Sonia Gandhi.
Reacting to objections from Congress MP KC Venugopal, Shah clarified he was merely referencing a court case, while asserting that opposition parties routinely blame institutions like the Election Commission and EVMs for electoral setbacks. “The Congress on the other hand has started the tradition of blaming institutions for its ills. This Congress habit has also spread to its partners in the INDIA bloc,” he said, citing opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin and Bhagwant Mann.
Shah also criticised opposition MPs for piloting impeachment motions against judges, suggesting such moves were attempts to appease vote banks. “Even Uddhav Thackeray has signed the impeachment notice,” he said.
The Home Minister contrasted BJP’s approach to defeats, noting that the party introspected when it lost elections rather than blaming institutions. “We spent a better part of our life sitting in opposition, but never chose to blame the Election Commission or the EVM,” he said.
