New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said he directly challenged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss his press conferences on "vote chori" in Parliament but did not get any answer.
A day after the Lok Sabha witnessed a heated exchange between him and Shah during a debate on election reforms, Gandhi claimed that Shah appeared to be "under pressure".
"He (Shah) used the wrong language, his hands were shaking, you would have seen all this. He is under pressure mentally that was witnessed in Parliament, the whole country saw it," the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha told reporters in the Parliament House complex.
"The things I have said, he did not address, did not give any proof. We have said it publicly in press conferences. I directly challenged him to let us discuss my press conferences in Parliament. Did not get an answer. You know the reality," Gandhi said.
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Gandhi on Wednesday called the home minister's response during the debate "completely defensive" and asserted that "vote chori" is the "biggest treason".
He also claimed that the home minister did not respond to any of the points raised by him and remained evasive including on transparent voter lists, EVMs and granting immunity to the chief election commissioner.
The opposition MPs, including Gandhi, staged a walkout in the Lok Sabha during the debate on electoral reforms.
Later in a post on X, Gandhi said the home minister's response in Parliament on "vote theft" was "panicked" and "defensive".
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Chennai (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has strongly criticised the Centre over the women's reservation and accused it of trying to use it as a "weapon" to tackle the opposition before taking up the delimitation exercise based on population.
"The Union government is not concerned about implementing reservations for women. If their concerns were genuine, they could have done it right away. Rather than doing that, the BJP-led Centre is thinking of using it as a weapon to tackle opposition and take up the delimitation exercise based on population," he told PTI in an interview.
"Hence, the women's reservation must be implemented immediately without showing delimitation as a reason," the DMK president added.
Expressing apprehensions on the proposed delimitation exercise, the CM said it was the DMK that raised the first voice asserting the rights of the state after realising that Tamil Nadu would be affected by the proposed exercise. He also attacked his rival and AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami over the delimitation issue.
Recalling efforts made by the DMK to raise the issue of population-based delimitation, he said an all-party meeting and a meeting of CMs under the auspices of the Joint Action Committee seeking fair delimitation were convened. It sought to freeze delimitation for 25 years and stick to it based on the 1971 Census population.
"We urged the union government that states which successfully implemented population control programmes must not be punished," he added.
The party came up with "Tamil Nadu poradum, Tamil Nadu vellum" (Tamil Nadu will struggle, Tamil Nadu will win) and this is DMK's stand, he said.
"However, Palaniswami, who is seeking votes for the entry of the BJP through the backdoor, has till date been mute over delimitation, and this is a betrayal of the people of Tamil Nadu."
