Sanjay Raut demands Amit Shah's removal as Home Minister over '13 crore' voters remark

The Election Commission and the voters' list are at the centre of national politics. The INDIA bloc held a strong protest at Ramlila Maidan against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Following this, Shiv Sena (Thackeray faction) MP Sanjay Raut targeted Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Raut also demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi immediately remove Shah as Home Minister.

Speaking on the INDIA bloc's protest, Raut recalled Jayaprakash Narayan's 1974 movement to save democracy. He claimed that yesterday's rally was bigger than that movement. According to Raut, the appeal Rahul Gandhi made to save the Constitution and democratic institutions is significant. He taunted that the BJP cannot see the crowd at Ramlila Maidan, and said the protest was a success.

Raut also took on the Centre over the deletion of crores of voters' names from the voters' list. He alleged that the voters whose names were deleted are being called Bangladeshi infiltrators. On this, he questioned Shah directly. Raut said that if 13 crore voters are being called Bangladeshis, Bangladesh's entire population is only 15 crore, so how could so many people have come into India?

Raut went on to say that if so many infiltrators have entered India, it is the responsibility and the failure of the Union Home Ministry. For this reason, he said, Modi should remove Shah as Home Minister.

Raut also reacted to Shah's statement that Rahul Gandhi will never become Prime Minister. Raut said it is the people of the country who will decide whether Rahul Gandhi is to be made Prime Minister, not Shah.

Raut also once again demanded that Gyanesh Kumar be removed from his post. The confrontation over the Election Commission's role has now become a direct political fight between the Modi government and the Opposition, and the issue could heat up further in the coming days.