"EC doesn't work under Govt, SIR can't be discussed in this House": Amit Shah counters Rahul in Lok Sabha

New Delhi [India], December 10 (ANI): Blaming the Opposition for creating a ruckus in the Parliament, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday clarified that the Election Commission of India does not work under the Central government, explaining that the issue of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls cannot be discussed in the Parliament as it is the responsibility of the ECI.
Amit Shah asked, "If questions are asked about the conduct of the Election Commission, then 'who will answer it?'. He further said that the government "immediately" accepted the discussion on electoral reforms, as they fall under the government's purview.
"For two days, we told the Opposition that this should be discussed later, after two Sessions. But they didn't relent. We agreed...Why did we say 'No'? There were two reasons for the 'No'. 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. India's EC and CEC do not work under the Government. If a discussion is held and questions are raised, who will answer it?" Amit Shah said in the Lok Sabha.
"When they said that they are ready to discuss electoral reforms, we agreed immediately," he added.
Amit Shah blamed the Opposition for creating a ruckus in Parliament for the first two days, which sent a message that the government does not want to discuss SIR. Amit Shah countered that Parliament is the "biggest panchayat for discussions" and the BJP-NDA never runs away from it.
"There was a logjam for the first two days over discussion on this matter. This sent the 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," Amit Shah said.
"For four months, one-sided lies were spread about SIR. Attempts were made to mislead the people of the country," Shah said.
Today is the second day of discussion on electoral reforms in the Lok Sabha. This follows the Opposition's relentless demand for a debate about SIR, which the government 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.
Earlier on Tuesday, addressing the Lower House of Parliament during a discussion on electoral reforms, Rahul Gandhi questioned the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government about the rationale for removing the Chief Justice of India from the committee to select the Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners.
He also slammed the Centre for providing immunity to the CEC.
Amid uproar by NDA MPs, Rahul Gandhi reiterated his claims of electoral fraud in the Haryana Assembly elections. He said, "The Election of Haryana was stolen. Theft ensured by the Election Commission... The biggest anti-national act you can do is vote-chori. There is no bigger anti-national act than vote-chori because when you destroy the vote, you destroy the fabric of this country. You destroy modern India; you destroy the idea of India. Vote-chori is an anti-national act, and those across the aisle are doing an anti-national act," he said.
He further alleged that the ECI was "captured" by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as part of its project to take over the country's institutions. (ANI)