'Rahul Gandhi’s offer still stands': Tharoor challenges BJP to parliamentary debate on SIR

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Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has backed Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi's challenge to debate allegations over SIR and alleged vote theft in Parliament saying that saying that Gandhi's offer still stands as the Parliament has not yet been prorogued.

Speaking to ANI, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said, "Parliament has not yet been prorogued, so let it reconvene. If Parliament reconvenes, I believe Rahul Gandhi's offer to debate still stands, Tharoor told ANI.

Tharoor also criticised the Election Commissiono ver its handling of the Special Intensive Revision

(SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging procedural irregularities and saying the Supreme Court hearings had

supported the Opposition's concerns.

Commenting on ECI de-linking SIR declaration from Form 6, the Congress MP said "This was amongst the most outrageous mistakes. The ordinary public has not fully understood all of these examples of frankly bureaucratic and administrative malfeasance that were conducted by the Election Commission under Gyanesh Kumar. Some of these things were objected to by the two other Election Commissioners as well. One of them is Form Six, where you suddenly unilaterally change the form, introducing a new declaration which is not authorised under the rules and laws of the country," he said.

The Congress MP further asserted that the Opposition had been raising the same issue.

Tharoor said the Opposition wanted the SIR exercise reversed and the deletion of 113 million voters from electoral rolls undone, arguing that the Supreme Court hearings had vindicated its concerns over the Election Commission's handling of the process.