In a post on X, he claimed that the proposed legislation was intended to protect the BJP from an electoral setback in 2029, although its details had not yet been made public.
Taking a swipe at Shah, whom he sarcastically described as a “self-styled Chanakya”, Ramesh accused the Home Minister of changing his position on discussing SIR in Parliament.
He recalled that when the Opposition had sought a debate on the exercise last year, Shah had rejected the demand, arguing that SIR fell within the Election Commission’s jurisdiction.
“If the home minister is serious about a special session on vote chori, he should first secure the resignation of his hatchet man CEC Gyanesh Kumar. He should also suspend SIR,” Ramesh said.
He also demanded that the government share its proposed Delimitation Bills with the Opposition well in advance and convene an all-party meeting to discuss the proposals.
The Congress leader’s remarks came a day after Shah challenged Rahul Gandhi to debate issues including electronic voting machines (EVMs), SIR and alleged infiltration in Parliament, saying the government was ready to convene a special session for the purpose.
Addressing the BJP’s ‘Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy’ padayatra in Hyderabad, Shah dismissed the INDIA bloc’s rally in Delhi on Sunday as a “save infiltrator” campaign.
He questioned the Congress’s criticism of EVMs, asking how the party had managed to form governments in states such as Telangana if the machines were unreliable. Shah also said Gandhi could become Prime Minister only in a mock Parliament.
“Rahul ji, you don’t allow Parliament to run. Be it EVMs, SIR, infiltrators, I challenge you from Hyderabad. We are ready to convene a special session of Parliament. Come for debate,” Shah said.
He further accused the Congress of disrupting parliamentary proceedings to remain politically relevant and alleged that the party was opposing SIR to protect illegal immigrants from Bangladesh whose names, he claimed, appeared on electoral rolls.
Shah asserted that the BJP would remove every infiltrator from the electoral rolls and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would politically expose the Congress if a special parliamentary session was convened.
The exchange has intensified the political confrontation between the BJP and the Congress over electoral roll revision, allegations of electoral irregularities and the proposed delimitation exercise.
With PTI inputs
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