‘Make Rahul Gandhi a mocking PM’: BJP slams INDIA bloc for mocking Parliament

BJP National Spokesperson and Member of Parliament Dr. Said Floor. File | Photo credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday (Oct 31, 2026) accused the Congress and its allies of making a mockery of democratic institutions by holding a mock session of Parliament, saying opposition parties had repeatedly disrupted proceedings in the real Parliament.

At a press conference, BJP MP Sambit Patra referred to the structure resembling the old Parliament building built for the mock Parliament session and said, “They want to keep everything from the old British-era structure… They should put Rahul Gandhi ji as the mock Prime Minister in that very old structure. We have absolutely no objection.”

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He was referring to the mock session of the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) Parliament held at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence in New Delhi for the symbolic “public impeachment” of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of irregularities in the Special Intensive Review (SIR) of electoral rolls and the conduct of elections.

‘No Vote Stolen’

Responding to the opposition’s “vote chori” accusation, Mr Patra said: “If your 38 thousand BLAs (cabin level agents) were doing their job properly, you wouldn’t have to hold this fake parliament today.”

Alleging that the voting rights of 13 million people had been “stolen”, he said that if that was the case, the affected people would take to the streets. “The reality is that not one person’s vote was stolen,” he said. He pointed out that SIR was conducted ten times during the Congress rule and accused the party of double standards.

Explaining the figure, Mr. Patra claimed that about 12 million voters have moved permanently and of these, about 6 million have already filled Form 6 to be included in the voters’ list. Notices have been sent to the remaining individuals and the process is underway, he said, adding that those who were marked absent have also been included. About 2.8 million names were deleted due to their deaths and nearly 1 million duplicate records were also removed, he said.

He alleged that during the Trinamool Congress rule in West Bengal, his workers would cast “fake votes in the names of deceased people”, but the SIR stopped the practice. “When it is no longer possible to cast fake votes, the frustration we are witnessing today is natural,” Mr Patra said.

Rejecting the allegation that Form 6 had been altered, he said only a statement had been added and that the Supreme Court judgment dated May 27, 2026 had clearly dealt with the matter. He also said that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has clarified that decisions on SIR were taken unanimously. He further said that there were no disagreements regarding ECINET, ECI’s digital platform.

Act of 2023

The BJP leader refuted the allegation that the BJP had brought the Bill 2023 to grant immunity to Election Commissioners, saying that the constitutional protection was already in place and the law only spelled out the procedure. He cited the July 2023 Telangana lower court order to register a case against the Chief Election Commissioner and others. The directive was struck down by the High Court.

“However, at that time there was a feeling that due to political pressure, even constitutional officers who enjoy constitutional protection may be exposed to cases without any discretion,” he said.

Earlier, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said the World Bank’s 2025 report recognized India’s success in reducing poverty under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Between 2011 and 2023, extreme poverty fell from 27.6% to just 2.6%, according to the report.

He said that while the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government was determined to eradicate poverty and improve the living standards of the people, the Congress and Mr Gandhi were “trying to create anarchy in the country”.

Published – 31 Oct 2026 21:35 IST