New Delhi, Nov 3, 2026 13:39 IST

The Congress on Tuesday hit back at Home Minister Amit Shah over his offer to convene a special session of Parliament to discuss the SIR issue, responding that Shah should first secure the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and suspend the ongoing exercise if he was genuine about the proposal.

Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh also urged Shah to share the government's delimitation proposals with the Opposition ahead of time and convene an all-party meeting to discuss them.

Ramesh pointed out that 82 days had elapsed since the Monsoon Session of Parliament ended, yet it had still not been formally closed. He alleged this delay occurred because the home minister was weighing whether to call a special session to pass delimitation bills utilizing what he termed a super-tainted two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha.

Writing on social media, Ramesh stated that the contents of the bills remained unknown, though he claimed their true objective was to shield the BJP from electoral setbacks in 2029. He criticized the home minister's approach, referencing previous instances when the combined Opposition sought a debate on the matter only to be told it fell under the prerogative of the Election Commission.

Ramesh maintained that if the home minister genuinely wanted a special session concerning vote manipulation allegations, he needed to ensure the resignation of the chief election commissioner and halt the SIR process immediately. He further questioned why advanced copies of the delimitation proposals had not been shared or discussed in an all-party meeting.

These counter-statements followed remarks made by Shah challenging Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to a parliamentary debate on the issue, where he expressed readiness to hold a special session. During the BJP's demonstrations, Shah had criticized the opposition's rallies and questioned how the Congress managed to secure state-level victories if electronic voting systems were allegedly flawed.

Shah had also alleged that the opposition party was attempting to halt the electoral roll exercise in order to protect foreign infiltrators, vowing that the ruling party would systematically remove them. The latest exchange underscores the ongoing political standoff over electoral rolls, special legislative sessions, and broader governance disputes between the ruling coalition and the Opposition.