Be Prepared For Crushing Defeat In 2029 Polls: Shah To Rahul Amid Protests Against CEC And SIR

New Delhi Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday broke his silence for the first time on the continuous protests by the opposition INDIA bloc and Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

In a sharp counter-attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Shah predicted a "crushing defeat" for Congress in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.

What Amit Shah Said:

Prediction for 2029:"I want to tell Shri Rahul ji and his associates to prepare themselves once again for a crushing defeat in 2029. In the 2029 general elections, the NDA is going to win with a resounding majority, and the Congress is going to face defeat for the fourth consecutive time. The people of this country are with Narendra Modi ji, with the BJP, with the NDA," Shah said.

On SIR Charge: Shah questioned Gandhi's logic, saying SIR started only after 2024, so Congress's decades-old losses cannot be blamed on it. "I want to ask Shri Rahul Gandhi ji directly: Is this the result of the SIR? The SIR started only after 2024," he said. He cited that Congress has not won in West Bengal for 54 years, Tripura for 33 years, and Gujarat since 1985.

On Recent Bypolls: Shah claimed Congress failed to win a single seat in recent by-elections held in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. He cited BJP wins in Naogaon by 1,42,000 votes, Nandigram with 76% votes and a lead of 1,22,000 votes, and Rejinagar by over 75,000 votes.

Accusation on Opposition: He accused the opposition of trying to get "infiltrators registered as voters" and said Congress was doing "negative politics" and "fabricated media events" instead of connecting with people.

Why INDIA Bloc is Protesting:

The INDIA bloc leaders held a joint press conference at Rahul Gandhi's residence in New Delhi on Tuesday and vowed to continue their campaign for the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar and invalidation of SIR over alleged irregularities. df78

Rahul Gandhi said: "It is our commitment that the people who have done this -- Mr Modi, who is the main architect, Amit Shah, who is implementor, Gyanesh Kumar and others -- they need to understand that the net is closing around them. We assure you that all would be brought to justice." 

The controversy intensified after reports that two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had raised objections at least 14 times over decisions taken without their knowledge, including those related to SIR. Kumar has been accused by the opposition of facilitating "vote chori" since becoming CEC in 2025. 

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh hit back calling Shah a "co-architect of vote-chori" and said both PM Modi and Shah were "rattled seeing the surge of sentiment against them".