‘SIR began in 2024, Congress was already losing’:Shah predicts 4th consecutive defeat in 2029, makes first remark amid INDIA bloc protest

Amid protests across the country against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the Election Commission, Union Home Minister Amit Shah issued his first statement on Tuesday. He accused Rahul Gandhi of trying to protect infiltrators under the pretext of SIR, saying people in the country understood his agenda. Shah said he wanted to tell Rahul to be prepared for another crushing defeat in 2029. He claimed the NDA would win the Lok Sabha elections with a huge majority, while Congress would face its fourth consecutive defeat. “The people of this country stand with PM Modi, the BJP and the NDA. You cannot deny this truth,” Shah said. Shah says Congress has been losing since Rahul entered politics Referring to the BJP’s victory in Gujarat’s local body elections, Shah said the party won 90 of the 104 seats. He asked whether SIR was also responsible for Congress’s defeat in the Gujarat civic polls. He said the SIR process began after 2024, while Congress had been losing elections since Rahul Gandhi entered politics. He accused Rahul of using SIR as an excuse to hide his own and his party’s failures. ‘Congress has not won a single election in Gujarat in 41 years’ Shah said the Aam Aadmi Party contested all 32 seats in the Gujarat civic elections but lost its security deposit in every constituency. He claimed Congress had not won an election in Gujarat in 41 years, adding that the party last won an election there in 1985. Shah asks why EVMs are blamed when elections were held using ballot papers Referring to the Gram Samiti elections in Tripura, Shah said the NDA won around 3,248 of the 4,600 seats and secured 77.5% of the total votes. According to him, Congress won only 14 of the 4,600 seats. He also targeted those who blame electronic voting machines (EVMs) for election results. Shah said the elections he was referring to had been conducted using ballot papers. He claimed this disproved the argument that EVMs were responsible for the BJP’s victories. Shah said Congress had not had a chief minister in Tripura for 33 years and had not won an election in West Bengal for 54 years. He asked Rahul whether these results would also be attributed to SIR. Shah says Congress also lost by-elections in Bengal and Tamil Nadu Citing recent by-elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Shah said Congress failed to win a single seat. He claimed the BJP candidate won in Naogaon, West Bengal, by a margin of 1.42 lakh votes, while the BJP candidate in Nandigram secured victory by 1.22 lakh votes. Referring to Rajasthan’s local body elections, Shah said the BJP won 90% of municipal corporations, 66% of municipal councils and 65% of municipalities. On the Tripura Gram Samiti elections, he reiterated that the NDA won around 4,000 seats and secured 77.5% of the votes, while Congress managed to win only 14 of the 4,600 seats.