Amit Shah Offers 24-Hour Debate to End Parliament Gridlock

Shah Defends Parliament Presence

While Parliament remained stalled on the Opposition's demand to hear Home Minister Amit Shah in the House on the police crackdown on NEET students and on the theft of donations for Ram Temple, Shah said that they must provide a proper letter seeking debate after which he was ready to do it in the House. Replying to opposition attacks about him as either missing or a fugitive, Shah had stated that he was present in the Parliament sessions since they began with the Monsoon session.

"First of all, terms like 'laapata', 'bhaag gaye' are the kind of language increasingly being heard in India's public and parliamentary life. I have been coming to Parliament regularly since the session began; I sit in my chamber, but since the opposition is not allowing Parliament to function—in either House—what is one supposed to do?" Shah said.

"We asked for a time to be fixed and for the Opposition to be ready. That was their initial demand, and we agreed to it. I, too, have stated that I am ready to answer any question in Parliament, yet they simply do not want the discussion to take place," he added.

"Now, let the public decide who is running away. Let them submit a letter to the Speaker by 3:00 pm today. We are ready for a discussion on all aspects from 3:00 pm today until 3:00 pm tomorrow. I will sit in the House; I will listen to everyone and respond to every point. The government has nothing to hide," he added.

Rahul Gandhi Rejects Shah’s Offer

Not long after Amit Shah made his offer, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi rejected it by saying the opposition was not willing to listen to a "lecture" from the Union Home Minister and seek answers from him on the crackdown on student protestors during a demonstration.

"The opposition has clearly said that we are not interested in Amit Shah giving us a lecture. When I say 'we', I mean the younger generation of this country. Who shot the students? Who gave the order to beat up the students with lathis with nails? Did Amit Shah give this order to shoot our children? If he did, then he should resign. For the last 20 days, Amit Shah has been missing. The Home Minister of India has no courage; he cannot come to the House," Rahul said.

The opposition has been asking for Shah to come to Parliament and make a statement to the House on "police action" on the students during student agitation at Jantar Mantar.