The Congress on Tuesday hit back at Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his prediction of another defeat for the opposition in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, alleging that the “co-architect of vote chori” had already begun the rigging process.
Shah had asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the opposition to prepare for another “crushing defeat” in 2029, asserting that people were firmly behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP and the NDA. He also accused Gandhi of pursuing a plan to get infiltrators registered as voters.
Responding to Shah, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh accused the home minister of “bombast, bluff and bluster” and alleged that the ruling dispensation was attempting to manipulate the electoral process.
“The co-architect of Vote Chori has, not surprisingly, 'predicted' the 2029 Lok Sabha election for which undoubtedly he has already begun the rigging process,” Ramesh said in a post on X.
He said the right to vote was the people's biggest constitutional weapon to hold governments accountable, adding that the youth and other sections of society were taking to the streets against the government.
Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal also targeted Shah, accusing him of celebrating an election victory when the opposition's concern was the alleged destruction of the electoral system.
“ Amit Shah is already speaking about 2029, clearly he also knows that Modi's position is unstable,” Venugopal said, alleging that the home minister appeared nervous and had avoided taking questions from reporters.
Congress leader Pawan Khera said Shah's remarks amounted to an admission of the opposition's allegations over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the Election Commission's functioning.
“This is the confidence they have in the SIR, the Election Commission and Gyanesh Kumar. We thank him for proving our allegations himself,” Khera said.
Earlier, Shah had accused Gandhi of pursuing “negative politics” and said the Congress needed to reconnect with the public instead of relying on what he described as fabricated media events and falsehoods.
Citing the party's electoral performance over the years and its recent results in bypolls and local body elections, Shah urged Gandhi to introspect.
He also questioned the Congress's allegations of electoral irregularities, asking whether the SIR could be blamed for the party's defeats when the exercise began only after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Shah asserted that the NDA would return to power with a resounding majority in 2029 and that the Congress would face defeat for the fourth consecutive time.
(With inputs from PTI)