Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi faced off in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday as the House debated electoral reforms. The exchange grew heated when Gandhi cut into Shah’s remarks and said, “I challenge you to have debate on my press conferences.”

Rahul Gandhi Challenges Shah During Debate

During the discussion, Gandhi insisted that the House should examine his recent media briefings. He said, “Let us have a debate on my press conferences. Amit Shah ji, I challenge you to have a debate on my three press conferences.”

However, the BJP leader dismissed the intervention and made it clear he would not change the structure of his speech.

Shah Pushes Back

Shah replied sharply and said he would not speak in an order decided by the Opposition. He told the House, “First of all, I want to make it clear… I have long experience, and I will decide the order of my speech… they should be patient… I will answer each question… but they cannot decide the order of my speech.”

Soon after, Gandhi accused him of showing weakness. He said, “Amit Shah gave a defensive response, this is a response of being rattled and scared.”

Shah Counters Rahul’s ‘H-Bomb’ Claim

The clash intensified when Shah addressed Gandhi’s earlier allegations of voter list manipulation. Gandhi had claimed in a press conference that the government had allowed 501 voters to register at a single house in Haryana. Shah said the allegation was false and had already been clarified by the Election Commission.

Shah added that Gandhi had said “in a press conference on November 5 he had dropped an ‘atomic bomb’ — and in that so-called bomb he claimed that 501 votes were registered at a single house in Haryana.”

He then cited the Election Commission’s findings. “The Election Commission has clarified that house number 265 is not a small house but a one-acre ancestral plot where several families live. However, each family has not been given a separate house number, which is why the same house number appears everywhere. And multiple generations of one family live together. This numbering system has been the same since the time a Congress government was elected in Haryana. This is not a fake house.”

Debate Enters Second Day

Wednesday marked the second day of the Lok Sabha discussion on electoral reforms. The Opposition had pushed repeatedly for a debate on SIR, which the government had initially avoided.

Eventually, both sides agreed to move ahead with the reforms discussion after completing the debate on Vande Mataram.

Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have set aside 10 hours in total for the debate on electoral reforms.