Amit Shah Predicts 2029 Defeat for Congress After Local Wins

Union Home Minister Amit Shah predicted a fourth consecutive crushing defeat for the Indian National Congress in the 2029 Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday. Speaking in New Delhi, Shah cited recent sweeping victories for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the NDA in Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Tripura, as well as by-election wins in West Bengal, Assam, and Puducherry, as evidence of the opposition's decline.

In Gujarat's local body elections, the BJP won 90 of 104 seats, including 38 of 44 seats in the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation. Shah dismissed allegations from Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls or electronic voting machines (EVMs) caused these results. He argued that because some of these elections used ballot papers, the claim that technology helps the BJP win is refuted. Shah further asserted that the Congress has not won an election in Gujarat since 1985 and has faced decades of failure in West Bengal and Tripura.

The remarks followed a joint press conference by the INDIA bloc demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities. Congress MP Jairam Ramesh responded by accusing Shah of being a co-architect of vote rigging and claiming the government is rattled by public sentiment.