Rahul Gandhi’s rally in Delhi will only add salt to the wounds of victims of anti-Sikh riots: Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah addresses an event in Chandigarh, Sunday, November 1, 2026. | Photo credit: PTI

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday (Nov 1, 2026) pointed guns at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying his rally in Delhi to mark the anniversary of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots could only “pour salt into the wounds of the victims”.

He was addressing a rally in Chandigarh after the inauguration and foundation stone laying ceremony of various development projects worth ₹258 crore.

“Rahul Gandhi’s Jalsa on November 1 in Delhi only rubs salt in the wounds of the victims of the anti-Sikh riots,” Mr Shah said.Attacking the Congress over the riots, Mr Shah said thousands of people had been killed in the riots.

“On the day the Sikh genocide happened, that very day, they had to hold a rally,” Mr. Shah said, condemning the INDIA bloc for its rally at Ramlila Maidan in the national capital.

The opposition INDIA bloc is staging a ‘Chalo Dilli’ protest in the national capital as part of its campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged election irregularities.

Rahul Gandhi’s “Mohabbat ki dukaan” for organizing a rally on such a dark day was hatred in the only way, the Union minister said.

“If you want to become prime minister, stay in the fake parliament all your life. It will not be your turn,” Mr Shah added.

“Telling lies, spreading anarchy, not letting Parliament function, that is your ‘fitrat’ (true nature),” Mr Shah said of the opposition.

The INDIA bloc on Saturday (October 31, 2026) staged a symbolic “public impeachment” against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of vote-sweeping to steal the election and demanding that he be tried in a court of treason and jailed.

The minister said that on November 1, 1984, thousands of Sikhs were brutally murdered in Delhi during the anti-Sikh riots. “Thousands of Sikhs were burnt alive. Many Sikhs had to leave their homes, many children became orphans, many sisters became widows and the houses of many were burnt,” Mr Shah said.

“And then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi made a statement and I saw it on TV and I can’t forget it for the rest of my life. He said that if a big tree falls, the earth shakes,” he said.

After the murder of thousands of Sikhs, only Congress leaders can make such a remark, he added.

Mr Shah pointed out that when the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014, it reopened the cases of all those involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, and ₹5 lakh compensation was given to the next of kin of each killed in the riots, while prominent Congress leaders were put behind bars.

Mr. Shah added, “India has never witnessed and will never witness riots of this kind instigated by a political party.”

Published – 01 Nov 2026 18:48 IST