Kharge asks Modi to face questions on ‘vote chori’, Rijiju spars with him on ‘dimaagi Naxals’

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Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge addresses a massive public gathering at the 'Insaaf Rally', in Sangrur. | Photo Credit: X/@INCIndia

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju sparred on social media on Wednesday (November 4, 2026) over the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) use of the term "dimaagi (intellectual) Naxal", after the Congress chief urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to answer questions on alleged vote chori (theft) instead of labelling people.

In a post on social media platform X, Mr. Kharge said Mr. Modi had no answers on the allegations of electoral malpractice or to the open debate challenge issued by the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.

"PM Modi is parroting his flop line of 'Dimaagi Naxal'! He has NO answer on Vote Chori and the Open Challenge by Rahul Gandhi to discuss how he mortgaged Indian interests to Foreign powers!" Mr. Kharge said in a post on X.

Mr. Rijiju responded to the Congress chief's post. "Dimaagi Naxal was a term and not a political narrative," the Minister said. He listed four categories of people he described as 'dimaagi Naxals': those who supported the Maoist agenda and rejected the Indian Constitution; those who sided with separatists and supported Article 370; those who opposed development projects; and those who conspired to cut off the northeast from the rest of the country by targeting the 'chicken's neck' Siliguri corridor in north Bengal.

Mr. Kharge also questioned Union Home Minister Amit Shah's assertion that three crore voters were "infiltrators", asking what he had been doing as Home Minister if illegal immigrants had been allowed to enter the country over the years. "He (Mr. Shah) should be sacked for his incompetence," the Congress chief said.

The Congress president also accused the Election Commission of India of making five U-turns on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, including a complete change in Form 6, which, he claimed, had been termed illegal by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's fellow Election Commissioners.

Pointing to the forthcoming winter session of Parliament, Mr. Kharge said the monsoon session had not been prorogued for 83 days, and questioned the government's proposal to convene a special session when the next regular session was approaching in due course.

He claimed that the symbolic 'public impeachment' of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Congress's 'Vote Bachao' rally at Ramlila Maidan had rattled the Prime Minister and Mr. Shah.

"You don't come to Parliament. You have not done a SINGLE OPEN PRESS CONFERENCE; it's time you came for a DEBATE. Come forward, Face Questions. Tell the Nation why did you indulge in VOTE CHORI !!" Mr. Kharge said in another post on X.

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