Union Home Minister Amit Shah has challenged Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav to debate the SIR row in a special parliamentary session
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday challenged Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav to debate the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) row in a special session of Parliament.
He asserted that “we have nothing to hide”, adding the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was ready to discuss the matter.
His remarks came a day before the INDIA bloc’s planned “public impeachment” of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over the ongoing SIR controversy.
The opposition INDIA bloc, which has been demanding Kumar’s resignation, is also set to hold a mega rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on Sunday, November 1.
Speaking at the Uttar Pradesh BJP state executive committee meeting in Lucknow, Shah said, “I challenge you both right here and now: the Bharatiya Janata Party is fully prepared to discuss this in Parliament. We have nothing to hide. Let us convene a special session of Parliament”.
He accused the opposition of failing to let the Parliament function and creating ruckus. “But they have no intention of speaking there. They refuse to let Parliament function; instead, they just create a ruckus”.
#WATCH | Lucknow | Union Home Minister Amit Shah says, “…’Rahul Baba,’ I challenge both you and Akhilesh Yadav right here and now: the Bharatiya Janata Party is fully prepared to discuss this (CEC-SIR row) in Parliament. We have nothing to hide. Let us convene a special session of Parliament—but they have no intention of speaking there. They refuse to let Parliament function; instead, they just create a ruckus”
In Haryana, the Bharatiya Janata Party formed the government after securing the highest number of seats. In Maharashtra, the NDA formed the government with the largest share of seats. In Bihar, for the first time, a Chief Minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party took office. In Delhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party formed the government after three decades. In Puducherry, the Bharatiya Janata Party formed the government once again. In Assam, we achieved a hat-trick by winning 100 seats, and in Bengal, we completely wiped out Mamata Didi. After the events in Bengal, they have realised that they simply cannot win elections. Naturally, when a team loses a match or a game, they should sit down and practice more—that is what is expected, isn’t it? But ‘Rahul Baba’ is cut from a different cloth. The same goes for Akhilesh and others in the ‘INDIA’ alliance who are with him. Instead of accepting defeat, they began accusing the umpire of cheating, claiming that votes were stolen. ‘Rahul Baba,’ I challenge both you and Akhilesh Yadav right here and now: the Bharatiya Janata Party is fully prepared to discuss this in Parliament. We have nothing to hide. Let us convene a special session of Parliament—but they have no intention of speaking there. They refuse to let Parliament function; instead, they just create a ruckus”
— ANI (@ANI) October 30, 2026
Amit Shah said the opposition blames the Election Commission whenever it loses an election instead of accepting the mandate and its defeat.
“Instead of accepting defeat, they began accusing the umpire of cheating, claiming that votes were stolen.”
The Congress had planned to hold a “mock parliament” originally, which was re-named as “public impeachment”. The sitting, which was planned for Friday, was postponed due to the rainfall. It will now be held today, October 31, with Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge set to move the “impeachment motion”.
INDIA Bloc’s Ramlila Maidan Rally
The INDIA bloc will hold a public rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan to demand the rollback of SIR and the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar.
Addressing a media briefing on Friday, Rahul Gandhi urged “everybody who wants to come” to join the November 1 rally.
“All the opposition, everybody who wants to come: political, non-political, social, service people, civil society people, journalists. Both the programs are about the demolition of Indian democracy by Narendra Modi, by Amit Shah, by Gyanesh Kumar and his crew in the Election Commission”, Gandhi said.
