'One-Sided Lies On SIR Have Been Spread,...Oppn Tried To Mislead People': Amit Shah in Lok Sabha

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused the opposition of misleading the public on SIR, clarifying that SIR is being conducted by the autonomous Election Commission of India (ECI), not the government, during a debate in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

"For four months, one-sided lies were spread about SIR. Attempts were made to mislead the people of the country," Shah said.

Speaking on electoral reforms, Amit Shah said, “At the start of the session, there was significant uproar from the opposition, creating a false impression among the public that we are avoiding a discussion on electoral reforms. We have never shied away from any discussion, as Parliament is the biggest ‘Panchayat’ in the country. The opposition is demanding a detailed review of SIR, which is not possible because it falls under the jurisdiction of the Election Commission. We do not conduct elections.”

He reiterated the jurisdictional issue: “If discussion [on SIR] is held and questions are raised, who will answer it? The ECI and CEC of India do not work under the government. When they said that they are ready to discuss electoral reforms, we agreed immediately.”

Shah addressed the initial logjam, explaining the government's hesitation saying, "There was a logjam for the first two days over discussion on this matter. This sent a wrong message to the people that we do not want to discuss this. I would like to make it clear that the Parliament is the biggest panchayat for discussions in this country. BJP-NDA never runs away from discussions. Whatever be the subject matter, we always stand ready for discussions as per Parliament rules. For two days, we told the Opposition that this should be discussed later... But they didn't relent. We agreed... There were two reasons for our initial refusal. One, they wanted a discussion on SIR. I am very clear that there cannot be a discussion on SIR in this House. SIR is the responsibility of the Election Commission."

Shah highlighted the importance of cleaning up electoral rolls and timely verification.

“If elections in a democracy are based on voter registration, then how can those elections be clean and orderly without proper verification? From time to time, a thorough re-examination of the voter rolls is necessary. That is why the Election Commission has decided that this (SIR) will be carried out in 2025,” he said.

He defined the process: "SIR is a clean-up exercise of electoral rolls."

He questioned the opposition to the process, linking it to national security: "Should illegal immigrants participate in elections in India?" Home Minister Shah asked, clarifying, "SIR is conducted to delete names from the electoral roll of people who are dead and those who are foreign nationals."

"From 1952 to 2004, no party opposed SIR, as it is the process to prepare a transparent electoral roll," he added.

Today is the second day of the discussion on electoral reforms in the Lok Sabha. This follows the Opposition's relentless demand for a debate about SIR, which the government had initially refused to accept. Finally, an agreement was reached between the government and the opposition to have a discussion on electoral reforms after the debate on Vande Mataram.

A total of 10 hours has been earmarked for the entire discussion in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.