CEC protests: Amit Shah targets Congress, Rahul Gandhi after BJP’s Gujarat civic poll victory

Amid the ongoing CEC protests Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday hit back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over allegations linked to the Special Intensive Revision SIR of electoral rolls arguing that the BJPrsquos electoral victories could not be attributed to the exercise or electronic voting machines reported the ANIShah said the elections under discussion were conducted using ballot papers countering claims that electronic voting machines helped the BJP win He also targeted the Congress over its electoral record in Gujarat Tripura and West Bengal claiming that the party had gone decades without a victory in these statesAsking Gandhi whether the results were due to the SIR Shah said the exercise came into effect only after 2024 He further alleged that the Congress had repeatedly lost elections since Gandhi emerged as its principal leader and subsequently became party president and Leader of the OppositionShah said that the BJP had won 90 of the 104 seats across three civic bodiesHe described the results as a reflection of votersrsquo continued support for Prime Minister Narendra ModiThe Home Minister criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on the Special Intensive Revision SIR of electoral rollsShah also cited the BJPrsquos performance in local body elections in Rajasthan and village committee elections in Tripura along with recent byelection results in West Bengal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry to target the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party AAPWATCH Delhi Union Home Minister Amit Shah says To those who cite ballot machines as the reason for the results I would like to point out that these elections were conducted using ballot papers this fact completely refutes the argument that ballot machines are what help the BJP win elections For 33 years no Congress Chief Minister has won in Tripura In Bengal the Congress party has not achieved a victory for 54 years In states like Bengal Tripura and Gujarat the Congress party has faced defeat for three four or even five decades I want to ask Shri Rahul Gandhi directly is this the result of the SIR The SIR only came into effect after 2024 Ever since you emerged as the principal leader of the Congressmdashand subsequently as its President and the Leader of the Oppositionmdashthe party has consistently lost electionsmdash ANI ANI October 13 2026BJP wins 90 of 104 seats in GujaratSpeaking about the Gujarat local body election results Shah said the BJP had secured 90 of the 104 seats across three municipalities and municipal corporationsIn the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation which falls within his parliamentary constituency the BJP won 38 of the 44 seats he saidShah claimed that AAP had contested all 32 seats in Gandhinagar but forfeited its security deposit in every constituency it contested He also said the BJPrsquos vote share in the municipal corporation had increased by 10 percentage points compared with the previous electionDescribing the outcome as a decisive mandate Shah said the results demonstrated that Gujaratrsquos electorate continued to stand firmly behind ModiShah targets Rahul Gandhi over Congresss Gujarat recordShah also took aim at Rahul Gandhi claiming that the Congress had not won an election in Gujarat since 1985According to the ANI he said the party had faced repeated defeats in the state since its last victory that year and argued that the results called for serious introspection within the CongressShah also questioned Gandhirsquos criticism of the SIR exercise asking whether the BJPrsquos electoral performance could be attributed to the revision of electoral rollsldquoYou need to introspectrdquo Shah said arguing that the BJPrsquos victories reflected its popularity rather than being explained away by the SIR processWATCH Delhi On Gujarat Local Body Election Results 2026 Union Home Minister Amit Shah says Elections were held today for three municipalities and municipal corporations in Gujarat The Bharatiya Janata Party achieved a resounding victory winning 90 out of the total 104 seats across these two municipalities and one municipal corporation In the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporationmdashwhich falls within my constituencymdashthe BJP won 38 out of 44 seats The Aam Aadmi Party contested all 32 seats but forfeited its security deposit on every single one of them This massive victory in Gujarat reflects the mood of the states voters demonstrating that the electorate of Gujarat stands rocksolid behind Narendra Modi ji Compared to the previous election the BJP has increased its vote share by 10 in the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation I want to make this point clearmdashand specifically convey it to Rahul jimdashthat the Congress party has not won a single election in 41 years The last election they won was back in 1985 since then they have faced continuous defeats in Gujaratmdash ANI ANI October 13 2026BJPrsquos performance in Rajasthan and TripuraThe Union Home Minister also referred to the BJPrsquos performance in Rajasthanrsquos local body electionsAccording to Shah the party won around 90 per cent of municipal corporation seats 66 per cent of municipal council seats and 65 per cent of municipality seats as per the ANIHe further claimed that AAP forfeited its security deposit in more than 85 per cent of the wards it contested in RajasthanReferring to village committee elections in Tripura Shah said the National Democratic Alliance NDA had won approximately 4000 seats including 3248 seats and another 900 seats with a combined vote share of 775 per cent He claimed that the Congress had secured only 14 of the approximately 4600 seatsCongress failed in Bengal byelections ShahShah also cited recent byelections in West Bengal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry claiming that the Congress had failed to win a single seat in these contestsHe highlighted several results in West Bengal saying the BJP had won the Naogaon seat by a margin of 142 lakh votes after wresting it from the Congress He also cited the partyrsquos victory in Nandigram where its candidate secured 76 per cent of the vote and won by a margin of 122 lakh votesIn Rejinagar Shah said the BJP won by more than 75000 votes taking the seat from the Trinamool CongressIn Puducherry he said a candidate from the NDA ally All India NR Congress AINRC won by 8482 votes while the Congress secured 22 per cent of the voteShah presented the results as evidence of the BJP and its alliesrsquo electoral strength while calling on the Congress leadership to examine the reasons behind its defeatswith ANI inputs