Raipur: The government is ready to convene a special session of Parliament to debate the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday, turning a challenge from the Opposition back on it.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the three-day Chhattisgarh Rajyotsav here, Shah said: "Let Parliament function. We are ready to convene a special session to hold discussions on SIR. If you have the courage, come and engage in a discussion before the people of this country. Simply carrying a copy of the Constitution around does not equate to supporting it. One's conduct must be Constitutional."
He did not give a date, and no session has been notified.
Shah accused the Congress of consistently backing Naxalism, citing a 2010 statement he attributed to then Home Minister P. Chidambaram that Maoists would not have to surrender weapons but should stop violence. He alleged that Congress leaders had supported the Maoists' "Janatana Sarkar", a parallel structure with its own ministers and no constitutional authority.
"Rahul Gandhi supported a fake 'Janatana Sarkar', unconstitutional governments and has now made a mockery of Parliament by staging a 'fake' Parliament," Shah said. "By conducting a 'mock' parliament, he staged a charade of a discussion. I want to tell Rahul-ji that the Narendra Modi government is prepared to discuss every single issue."
On the government's approach to law and order, Shah said those who abide by the law would be treated as citizens, while security forces would deal firmly with those who violate it, "be it in Bastar, the Northeast or Kashmir".
The remark follows a similar dare he issued in Hyderabad on Monday, when he said the revision had removed three crore names that never existed.
It comes as the BJP's "Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy" campaign nears the end of its first phase. Party functionaries say the response has been strong, and a second phase is planned after Diwali.