New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday mounted a strong defence of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists, tracing its history back to the early years of India’s democracy and accusing the Congress of misleading the public about the exercise.
“Till 2004, no one objected to SIR. It is a process by which we can improve elections and make our democracy healthy. If the voter list is corrupt, how can we expect to conduct free and fair elections?” Shah asked.
He added that the Constitution clearly defines the powers of the Election Commission, the process of preparing voter lists, and provisions for changes or improvements.
“When these provisions were made, our party did not even exist,” he pointed out.
Shah argued that duplicate entries are a common error and must be corrected.
“Should a voter be able to vote in more than one place? This is a process to cleanse the election process,” he said.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha during the ongoing debate on electoral reforms, HM Shah said the first SIR was conducted in 1952 under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, followed by revisions in 1957 and 1961.
The process continued under Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1965 and 1966, and later under Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1983-84, 1987 and 1989. It was also carried out during the tenure of Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao in 1992–93 and 1995, and under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2002-03. After 2004, Shah said, the latest revision took place in 2025 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He alleged that the Opposition was worried because SIR would remove the names of illegal immigrants who, he claimed, formed part of their support base.
“Should illegal immigrants participate in elections in India?” he asked.
The debate, which began Tuesday, has been marked by sharp exchanges between the Treasury and Opposition benches.
Rahul Gandhi, visibly angered by HM Shah’s remarks, challenged him to debate the Congress’s press conferences. HM Shah retorted that Gandhi’s November 5 statement was exaggerated, pointing to examples such as Bihar voter Minta Devi, who admitted she had mistakenly filled out her online form.
“When you win, the Election Commission is great; when you lose, it is incompetent. Such double standards will not work,” HM Shah said.
Escalating his attack, Shah alleged that “some families are hereditary vote thieves,” naming Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.
When Gandhi attempted to interrupt, HM Shah shot back, “Don’t interrupt.”
The exchanges underscored the deepening divide between the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA Bloc over electoral reforms, with SIR emerging as the latest flashpoint in the battle over credibility and transparency in India’s democratic process.
(IANS)
