Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi described Home Minister Amit Shah as ‘guilty or incompetent’ over the police action on student protests. Gandhi said that Shah should come to Parliament and clarify this. He also raised questions on Shah’s absence from the House.
Home Minister ‘guilty or incompetent’: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi [भारत]July 29 (ANI): Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said Union Home Minister Amit Shah is either ‘guilty’ or ‘incompetent’ over the alleged police action during the student protests on July 20. He stressed that the Home Minister should explain his role in Parliament.
Speaking to reporters after the Lok Sabha adjournment, Gandhi said there could be only two possible explanations for the alleged crackdown on student protesters at Jantar Mantar on July 20.
Gandhi said, “There can be only two reasons for this. First, the Home Minister himself ordered it. Second, the Home Minister did not know that the firing was going to take place. If the first is true, then he is guilty and if the second, then he is incompetent. Apart from these two, there is no third option.”
He further said, “If the Home Minister did not even know that bullets were being fired, it means he is incompetent; and if he had ordered it, then he is guilty.”
Questioning Amit Shah’s absence in the House during the debate, Gandhi said, “He did not even come to Parliament. The so-called brave Home Minister of India, why is he not coming? Why is he not in the House? If he did not do anything, did not give any order, then he should clarify that he did not do so.”
Asserting his right to raise the issue in Parliament, Gandhi said, “It is my right to speak in Parliament and they should give me this right.”
Uproar over allegations in the House
His remarks came after a heated argument in the Lok Sabha during the discussion on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026. Gandhi had alleged that the Home Minister did not have the courage to be present in the House, to which the ruling party strongly objected.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju described Gandhi’s allegations as ‘baseless’ and accused him of making baseless allegations against a senior minister without evidence. Speaker Om Birla also warned the opposition leader to avoid making personal allegations without factual basis.
Earlier, the House had witnessed another confrontation after Rijiju objected to a word used by Gandhi during his speech. Following objections from ruling party members and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Speaker Om Birla ordered the removal of the controversial word from the parliamentary record before adjourning the House amid the uproar. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)