After a heated exchange between him and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday claimed that HM Shah "did not" answer his questions and his response was "completely defensive."
Speaking to reporters after opposition MPs staged a walkout in Lok Sabha, the Leader of Opposition said, "He did not answer our questions. It was a completely defensive response. I said that a transparent voter list should be given, but he did not answer this. I said EVM's architecture should be provided to all, but he did not say anything about it. I said that BJP leaders are voting in Haryana and Bihar, but he did not say anything about that. He did not say anything about the CJI. Election Commissioner is given full immunity... We are not scared."
"We saw the response of the Home Minister. It was a totally defensive response. He did not answer the points we put forward," he added.
Earlier today, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi sparred over the allegations of 'vote chori' in the Parliament, with the latter challenging Shah to conduct debate on his three press conferences pertaining to his claims of 'voter Chori', to which the Home Minister retorted "Parliament won't function as per his wish."
The heated exchange between the duo occurred when Rahul Gandhi interjected HM Shah while he was addressing the Lok Sabha on the discussion on electoral reforms.
Slamming the opposition over Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Shah stated that he has answers for all their allegations, including Gandhi's three press conferences.
"In his press conference, the LoP levelled allegations that the voter list is not corrected and needs to be rectified. So, what is SIR? It is the procedure to sanitise the voter list. He is opposing even when we are undertaking the process...Your defeat is certain; voter list doesn't have to do anything with it... Double standards won't work in a democracy. When you win, EC is great. When you lose, EC is useless and works at BJP's behest. I have answers for various of their allegations, that three press conferences also," Shah said during the discussion.
Interrupting the Home Minister, Rahul Gandhi challenged him to a debate on his three press conferences regarding the allegations of 'vote chori'.
"Yesterday, I asked why Election Commissioners were given full immunity. We want to understand their thinking behind it. He (Amit Shah) talked about Haryana. He cited one example. There are several other examples. There are 19 lakh fake voters there. Actually, let us have a debate on my press conference. Amit Shah ji, I challenge you to have a debate on my three press conferences," Rahul Gandhi said.
Responding to the LoP's remarks, Shah said the former would not decide the order of his speech and should remain patient.
"The Leader of Opposition (LoP) asked for answers to his questions. 'You can't run the parliament with your obstinacy. I will decide the order of my speech. The parliament won't function like this. He should be patient. I will answer each and every point," he asserted.
Opposition MPs staged a walkout in the Lower House (Lok Sabha) of Parliament during Union Home Minister Amit Shah's reply to the discussion on electoral reforms.
The Lok Sabha was adjourned until 11 am on December 11 (Thursday) after Shah's speech.