Rahul Gandhi on the Parliament showdown: Amit Shah was under pressure and used inappropriate words

Rahul Gandhi intensified his criticism of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, saying the BJP leader appeared “under pressure” during Wednesday’s altercation, one day after tensions in the Lok Sabha erupted over electoral changes.

“Amit Shah ji was rather anxious yesterday in Parliament. He used the incorrect words, and his hands were shaking. Amit Shah ji is under a lot of mental pressure – which the whole country saw yesterday,” the Leader of the Opposition stated on Thursday.

Gandhi claimed that he immediately challenged Shah to discuss the accusations he made during his “vote chori” press conference, but he never heard back.

“He did not respond to my remarks or provide any evidence. I directly challenged Amit Shah ji to debate me on my press conference — and no response came to that either. You all know what the truth is,” the congress leader said.

His comments came a day after the two leaders engaged in a heated exchange in the Lok Sabha. What began as a discussion on electoral changes quickly descended into an unrestrained verbal clash.

Shah defended the government’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, arguing that it was essential to remove undocumented immigrants. However, Gandhi pressed him to publicly address the Opposition’s claims of a conspiracy between the Election Commission and the BJP to carry out widespread voter Fraud.

Shah responded strongly to Gandhi’s challenge over “vote stealing’’ allegations, asserting that the opposition could not dictate how he should speak.

“I want to clarify something. For thirty years, I have been elected to both the Parliament and legislative assemblies. I have a lot of experience,” Shah said. “The opposition leader says he wants me to respond to this or that question first. Let me make this clear to him: The Parliament will not work based on your wishes. I will decide the order in which I say things. He should be patient and hear my reply. I will answer everything. He will not decide the order of my speech.”

The Home Minister then attacked the Gandhi-Nehru family, alleging that the election of India’s first Prime Minister was the “first instance of vote chori.” He also referenced a court case claiming that Sonia Gandhi cast a ballot before obtaining Indian citizenship.

Gandhi and opposition MPs eventually staged a walkout during Shah’s address.

Later in the evening, Gandhi hit back again, accusing Shah of sidestepping all questions he had raised — from transparent voter lists to EVM accountability to immunity for the Chief Election Commissioner.

In a post on X, Gandhi described the Home Minister’s response in Parliament as “panicked” and “completely defensive.”