New Delhi [India], October 14 (ANI): Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal on Tuesday criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his remarks on the BJP's electoral victories and the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, accusing him of undermining the electoral system.
Venugopal described it as ironic that the Home Minister was celebrating electoral victories while, according to him, concerns remained over the functioning of the country's electoral system.
He stated, "Heights of irony that Vote Chor Amit Shah is celebrating an election victory - when the whole problem is how they are destroying our electoral system. Amit Shah is already speaking about 2029; clearly, he also knows that Modi’s position is unstable."
"Look at the body language, the fear is palpable. He is so nervous he only spoke to Godi media and took no questions," Venugopal said in his post, adding that Shah should be concerned about remaining in office until 2029.
"Mr Shah, you should certainly be worried about surviving in office till 2029," said Venugopal.
Congress MP Imran Masood also criticised Shah's remarks, alleging that the government had undermined the electoral system and reduced the Election Commission to a "mere puppet".
Masood told ANI that the Congress would continue its fight over concerns related to electoral processes and called on the government to provide details regarding the deletion of names from voter lists.
He said, "Our fight is against the fact that you have corrupted the entire system and reduced the Election Commission to a mere puppet. We will fight this battle to the very end and will not allow this to happen. They should stop trying to mislead people by repeatedly raising the issue of 'infiltrators'."
"Just because the names of 13 crore people have been deleted from the voter lists does not mean that there are 13 crore infiltrators. Make the list available to the public, showing how many individuals were identified and how many were actually deported," Masood said.
He also challenged the government to conduct elections in five states using ballot papers, referring to the upcoming 2027 Uttar Pradesh elections.
He stated, "The Uttar Pradesh elections are coming up. Go ahead and conduct the elections in these five states using ballot papers."
Shah on Tuesday, during a press conference, said that the BJP's victories in Gujarat's local body elections and recent by-elections and local elections in other states demonstrated that people had rejected what he described as the lies of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the INDIA bloc.
The Union Home Minister also said that public support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicated that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would return to power with a massive majority in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, while the Congress would face a fourth consecutive defeat.
Shah also accused it of attempting to shield infiltrators under the guise of opposing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
"I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that the people of this country have fully understood your strategy of shielding infiltrators under the guise of the SIR, and they will no longer fall for your ruses. I also wish to tell Shri Rahul and his associates to brace themselves for a crushing defeat in 2029. The NDA is set to secure a massive majority in the 2029 general elections, and the Congress is headed for yet another defeat, its fourth consecutive loss," he said.
This comes amid the ongoing agitation against CEC Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Meanwhile, as the INDIA bloc leaders met on Tuesday, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi announced, "There is no parallel protest; there is one singular protest, and the protest has one mission: the restoration of democracy in India." (ANI)
Congress hits back at Amit Shah's "crushing defeat in 2029" remark, questions functioning of electoral system
