Patna/Delhi, December 9, 2025 — Bihar BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal took a sharp dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, using a mix of Bollywood dialogue, historical references, and pointed electoral commentary during a debate on electoral reforms.

Addressing the issue of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls in Bihar, Jaiswal sarcastically thanked Rahul Gandhi, who was absent during the session, for raising the issue of “vote chori” (vote theft) in the state. According to Jaiswal, Gandhi’s focus on SIR instead of the performance of Nitish Kumar’s 20-year NDA-led regime in Bihar confused voters, while the BJP consolidated its position.

“There could have been many things to point out in a 20-year tenure,” he said, “but he kept saying ‘SIR’, ‘SIR’, ‘vote chori’… most people filled the forms but could not understand what he was saying.”

Jaiswal also taunted Gandhi over his foreign trips, contrasting him with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, both of whom he described as fully focused on domestic politics. “You went on a 20-day tourist trip of Bihar, but when the election came you went abroad,” he said, referencing Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav’s Voter Adhikar Yatra.

Drawing on popular culture, Jaiswal referenced a dialogue from the 1975 Bollywood classic Sholay, spoken by actor Asrani: “Humein sudhaarne wale bade-bade sudhar gaye, lekin hum nahin sudhre” (“Those who wanted to set us right have set themselves right, but we remain as we were”), using it to mock the Opposition’s continued criticism of SIR.

He also delved into history, calling the choice of Jawaharlal Nehru over Vallabhbhai Patel as India’s first Prime Minister in 1947 the “first and biggest instance of vote chori,” and cited the Emergency (1975–77) and mid-1990s booth-capturing cases as other examples of alleged electoral malpractices.

Jaiswal urged the Opposition to continue raising the issue of voter-list irregularities in West Bengal, claiming that infiltrators, including Bangladeshis and Rohingyas, had been added illegally in the past. He said, however, that the NDA would also highlight the failures of Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress government in the state.

Reiterating the purpose of SIR, Jaiswal said, “This is only to clean up the voter rolls, which is the bedrock of free and fair elections as envisaged by our Constitution’s maker, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar.”

Bengal has emerged as a key battleground, with the Congress a minor player and the BJP striving to unseat Mamata Banerjee. Jaiswal concluded with the slogan, “Bihar toh hamara ho gaya, ab Bengal ki baari hai” (“We have won Bihar, now it’s Bengal’s turn”), echoing the sentiment raised by NDA members during the Vande Mataram debate in the Lok Sabha.