New Delhi, Dec 11 (IANS) BJP’s Rajya Sabha member Gulam Ali Khatana on Thursday criticised Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of carrying a “negative” mindset after the Congress leader’s sharp exchange with Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the debate on election reforms.

The Opposition has been demanding that the ongoing Special Intensive Review process of electoral rolls in 12 states and union territories be halted, alleging that the Centre and the Election Commission of India are “colluding” to enable “vote theft”.

Speaking to IANS, Khatana dismissed the Opposition’s allegations and targeted Gandhi directly. “He is always negative; he doesn’t see anything positive. What could be more positive than SIR? It’s a very good step. This is a big country, not a country of scams like 2G or coal. We are on the path to becoming a big power country, unlike a corrupt country. Only the people of the country should be able to vote. How can someone from outside come and vote here?” he said.

During his speech in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, HM Shah accused the opposition of hypocrisy, saying they routinely questioned inaccuracies in voter lists but objected when steps were taken to correct and update them. He said that the opposition’s “double standards” will not affect anything.

Targeting Rahul Gandhi’s repeated press conferences on voter rolls, including one labelled a “Hydrogen Bomb”, Shah remarked that Gandhi spoke of “vote chori” even though some families — an unmistakable reference to the Nehru-Gandhi family — had been “generational vote chors”.

Gandhi interrupted Shah at this point, demanding that the Home Minister first explain why Election Commissioners had been given immunity for any action taken during their tenure. Accusing Shah of selectively quoting from his press interactions, Gandhi challenged him directly to have a debate. To this, HM Shah firmly replied that he (Rahul Gandhi) cannot decide the order of his speech points.

Union Minister Giriraj Singh accused Gandhi of following a ‘hit-and-run’ approach in Parliament, slamming the LoP over the opposition walkout during Wednesday’s proceedings.

Speaking to IANS, Singh said, “Rahul Gandhi follows a hit-and-run approach. He says he will speak at his time; people do listen to him then, but when the Prime Minister and Home Minister speak, he walks out. This is his idea of democracy — he lacks the patience to hear the truth.”

–IANS

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