'Nervous, hands trembling': Rahul Gandhi claims Amit Shah was under pressure during SIR speech in Parliament

Home Minister Amit Shah and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi engaged in a heated discussion during the debate on electoral reforms in Parliament.

Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday claimed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah was visibly nervous during his speech in Parliament during the debate on electoral reforms a day earlier.

"Amit Shah ji was very nervous in Parliament yesterday. His hands were trembling, he used foul language. Amit Shah ji is under a lot of mental pressure, which the whole country saw yesterday," Rahul told reporters outside Parliament.

Rahul's remarks came a day after the two leaders clashed during Shah's reply in Lok Sabha during the debate on electoral reforms in Parliament. While Shah dismissed the Congress MP's repeated allegations of "vote-chori" through SIR against the Election Commission and the BJP, Rahul in turn challenged the Home Minister to a debate on the issues he raised during his three press conferences on the matter.

अमित शाह जी कल संसद में बड़े नर्वस थे।

उनके हाथ कांप रहे थे, उन्होंने गलत लैंग्वेज का इस्तेमाल किया। अमित शाह जी मेंटली बहुत प्रेशर में हैं- जो कल पूरे देश ने देखा। ○ मैंने 'वोट चोरी' से जुड़ी जो बातें कहीं- उसका गृह मंत्री ने कोई जवाब नहीं दिया ○ मैंने अमित शाह जी को मेरी… pic.twitter.com/qt31aHfMEH — Congress (@INCIndia) December 11, 2025

"The things I said about 'vote theft'...the Home Minister gave no response to that. I directly challenged Amit Shah ji to debate me on my press conference and no response came to that either. You all know what the truth is," Rahul said.

On Tuesday, when Rahul interjected Shah's address, he said he was ready to respond to all issues raised by Rahul after his speech concludes. "House will not function according to his (Rahul's) wishes."

Throughout his speech, Shah maintained that the SIR was a routine, legally mandated exercise under the Representation of the People Act, conducted with full transparency and monitored by the Election Commission.

"Names of the dead, duplicates, and migrants must be removed. This is not vote chori. This is cleaning the voter list. Congress knows this but wants to ignite fears among minorities," Shah said.

Responding to Rahul's query on granting immunity to Election Commissioners for the SIR exercise, Shah said that no additional protection had been granted by the government beyond what the Representation of People's Act, 1950, already does.

The speech also saw Shah turn the tables on Congress on the issue of "vote-chori" as he cited Congress' own history to allege vote distortion by Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.

Opposition members eventually walked out of the Lok Sabha towards the end of Shah's speech, drawing much ridicule from the government benches for turning their back on the very debate they held the Parliament to ransom for.