Oppn walks out of Lok Sabha after Shah-Rahul spat

Fiery exchanges erupted in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday as the Opposition staged a walkout during Home Minister Amit Shah's speech on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, prompting sharp words from both sides.

Shah accused the Opposition of lacking the patience to discuss key national issues and 'only wasting Parliament's time'.

He said the Opposition was raising objections to the SIR exercise 'to keep illegal immigrants in voter lists'.

"If you oppose SIR, you will be wiped out from West Bengal and Tamil Nadu," Shah said, adding that the NDA's policy was clear -- 'detect, delete and deport illegal immigrants'.

Shah further claimed the BJP's victory in West Bengal was 'certain' if the Trinamool Congress continued opposing SIR.

The remarks led to heated arguments, with Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi challenging Shah to debate with him on the claims he made in three recent press conferences alleging 'vote chori' by the Bharatiya Janata artyP in collusion with the Election Commission.

"I had asked yesterday why election commissioners were given full immunity. He must explain the thinking behind this," Gandhi said, insisting there were several examples of alleged electoral malpractice.

Gandhi accused Shah of giving a 'defensive response', saying it reflected that the minister was 'rattled and scared'.

Shah retorted that he would not frame his speech according to the LoP's wishes or change the sequence of his arguments 'on someone else's demand'.

The exchanges triggered repeated protests from both treasury and Opposition benches before the walkout.