- 8 minutes ago
A high-stakes debate unfolded over the ongoing SIR showdown and the opposition INDIA bloc's planned rally at Ramlila Maidan on 1 November. Bharatiya Janata Party National Media Co-convenor Siddharth Yadav accused the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi of engaging in a deliberate political stunt by choosing the sensitive anniversary of the 1984 Sikh massacre for their Delhi demonstration instead of debating the issue constitutionally in Parliament. In response, Congress National Spokesperson Salman Soz defended the protest, arguing that public agitation is an essential democratic right to hold the government and the Election Commission accountable over the alleged disenfranchisement of voters. The debate also touched upon the opposition's impeachment motion against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, with the BJP firmly backing constitutional processes and dismissing street mobilization as political drama.
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00:00So the big question, where will the SIR showdown be decided now?
00:03Streets, parliament or courts?
00:06Has the SIR showdown now become Rahul Gandhi and the India Alliance versus Modi Shah and the BJP?
00:12Is this now a political battle above all else?
00:15Siddharth Yadav, National Media co-convener BJP and Salman Sos, Congress National Spokesperson,
00:21joining me at the moment.
00:23I want to come to you Siddharth Yadav first because suddenly the BJP seems to have decided
00:28they are going to carry out a march of their own of Sikh victims of 1984.
00:32I mean, are you now trying to even politicize 1984 as your counter because the Congress is
00:40planning a rally at Ramlila Maidan?
00:42I mean, is that how you want to play politics?
00:49You're on mute, sir.
00:50You're on mute.
00:53My apologies, Rajdeep.
00:54Good evening and good evening to all your viewers.
00:57Rajdeep, I think what politics is that should be defined very correctly when you make that
01:03opening remark, politics is when a leader of opposition chooses not to debate a sensitive
01:08issue in the courts, not to debate that sensitive issue in the parliament.
01:12Rather, he seizes an opportunity of speech making in a Maidan and let go of all other
01:19constitutional remedies.
01:21But you're not allowing it.
01:23With due regard, sir, where is the debate being allowed in parliament?
01:2650, more than 50 MPs signed an impeachment notion as per the provisions of Gyanesh Kumar.
01:31And the parliament has not been allowed, and the government has not allowed a debate on
01:35it.
01:36So if you won't allow a debate in parliament, what is the opposition supposed to do but go
01:40to the street?
01:42Rajdeep, you would remember that there was a proposal for the debate from Honorable Home
01:47Minister when the leader of opposition had denied that opportunity and he walked out.
01:51He said, we do not want a debate in the parliament, and therefore a debate did not happen.
01:56Probably we have not seen such instances in the history of our country.
01:59When leader of opposition, so the opposition per se, chooses not to debate in the parliament,
02:04rather they want to do propaganda building on the streets.
02:07But that's not the point tonight.
02:09What you made in the opening remark, I need to address to that.
02:12What is 1st of November?
02:13Is it a political date?
02:15Is it something that the BJP is doing politics on?
02:181st of November is a date where the Sikh community faced a massacre on the streets of the national
02:26capital of our country.
02:27Sajjan Kumar, former Congress leader, the second life sentence that he faced was for the killing
02:32of a father-son duo in Saraswati Vihar on 1st of November in 1984.
02:37When such a sensitive date, when the Congress party itself was accused of being involved
02:43in such, you know, in such acts of massacre, which is so sensitive to one community in
02:49our country, Rahul Gandhi chooses that date out of 365 days to do a political stunt in
02:55the national capital?
02:56Is that not politics?
02:58Is that not political convenience?
02:59So their political stunt will be matched by your political stunt?
03:02You said you were different.
03:03You're also doing a political stunt?
03:04I'm sorry, Rajdeep.
03:07What we are doing is our constitutional right.
03:09What we are doing is representing the sentiments of the Sikh community.
03:12And what they do is not their constitutional right.
03:16So when you protest, it's legitimate.
03:18When they protest, it's illegitimate.
03:20Is that what you're saying?
03:21Absolutely not, Rajdeep.
03:22My simple question is, is Rahul Gandhi deliberately choosing 1st of November out of 365 days?
03:29Is that a deliberate choice?
03:30He could have done it on 31st.
03:32He could have done it on 2nd.
03:33The Sikh community asked, forget what the traders are saying.
03:36Forget what the traders are saying ahead of Diwali.
03:39Because when you're calling everybody in a Chalo Delhi campaign from all over the country,
03:43and you wish, because you know that you don't have enough numbers in Delhi or in NCR,
03:47you're calling people from Kerala and Tamil Nadu to join your march in Delhi.
03:50Forget what the traders are saying.
03:52I'm asking you a question.
03:53When Congress parties, Rahul Gandhi's late father and former Prime Minister of this country had made a remark,
04:00we saw so many deaths on the streets of Delhi of one community.
04:06The date was 1st of November.
04:08Why is Rahul Gandhi choosing 1st of November?
04:11Is it a deliberate attempt to hurt the feelings of the Sikh community?
04:15That's the question.
04:16Okay, I've listened to you.
04:18I've listened to you.
04:19I mean, we can let Salman Sos respond to that.
04:21The BJP is now saying, why 1st of November?
04:27Well, Rajdeep, I would only ask the BJP leadership,
04:31why they did not do something like this on November 1st, 2025,
04:37November 1st, 2024, November 1st, 2023, November 1st, 2022,
04:45or any of the November 1st in the last, I don't know, 12, 13 years.
04:51They will argue they are doing it because you are doing a march on that day.
04:54No, no, no.
04:55I'll tell you why.
04:56I'll tell you why they're doing all this drama.
04:59They're doing all this drama because they're petrified by what is going to happen on November 1st.
05:05A sea of people are going to come to Delhi, to Ramlila Maidan,
05:11to fight for the rights of Indian citizens who have been disenfranchised.
05:17And, you know, you would think that the BJP would join us
05:21and demand of the election commission to restore the voting rights of 13 crore Indians.
05:29But what is...
05:30With due regards, sir, how is the sea of people going to change anything?
05:35BJP is very clear.
05:36Gyanesh Kumar is going nowhere.
05:38Today, Amit Shah made it very clear.
05:40They're firmly behind Gyanesh Kumar.
05:41Look, let me just say something about the Home Minister as well.
05:46He talked about how they're going to have a discussion in Parliament, etc.
05:49This is the same Home Minister who, after the brutal attack on students in Delhi on September 20th,
05:56he was nowhere to be seen in Parliament after that.
06:00What discussion is he going to have with us?
06:03So as far as we're concerned, you know, and just because the Home Minister or the Prime Minister says
06:09nothing is going to change, do you think that that is all there is in this country?
06:13We represent half the country.
06:16They represent half the country.
06:18If you look at the voting shares of the two blocs, the India bloc and the NDA,
06:22very close to each other.
06:24So they should...
06:25I want to disabuse them of this notion that they own India.
06:29They own this country.
06:31They don't own this country.
06:33They have...
06:34You're not asking my question.
06:36How is a sea of people on November 1st going to change anything?
06:40This is part...
06:41What do you mean?
06:42This is...
06:43Protesting is part of our culture.
06:48And when the government is not...
06:51When the government is not listening to the public,
06:55the public has a right to be out there and force the government to, you know,
07:00into accountability.
07:01Because this government thinks that it's not accountable.
07:03But we are making sure that the government understands.
07:06The people of the country are watching.
07:08The people of the country are no longer going to take your nonsense.
07:12You make them stand in queues.
07:14Poor people standing in queues, missing their daily wages,
07:18so that they keep filling out forms,
07:21keep proving that they're citizens, they have no shame.
07:24They did this during demodetization.
07:26During COVID, they were nowhere to be seen
07:29when bodies were flowing through the rivers of this country.
07:33And then they take the voting rights of 13 crore people?
07:36How can I...
07:38I've listened to you.
07:39You know, Siddharth, the question will come of accountability.
07:43Whether the Congress protests on November 1st,
07:45or December 1st, or January 1st, frankly, is immaterial.
07:48The right to protest is a fundamental right.
07:51When the BJP was in the opposition,
07:52you used to regularly protest.
07:54Suddenly, when the Congress protests,
07:56it becomes anti-national,
07:58you're trying to delegitimize a protest.
08:00Rather than that,
08:02actually, the government of the day
08:04should be answering the serious question
08:06the opposition is raising,
08:07or actually the ECI, the Election Commission,
08:10should be answering the questions of accountability.
08:12Democracy is about accountability.
08:14Mr. Yadav?
08:16Rajdeep, I can understand that you might not find it an issue
08:19that 1st of November was chosen deliberately.
08:21I can understand that the Congress party
08:23might not find it an issue.
08:24We find it an issue.
08:25The Sikh community finds it an issue.
08:27The people of Delhi find it an issue.
08:28We can have a difference of opinion.
08:30We can be on different pages.
08:32But if that is a sentimental issue,
08:34because that was something that cannot be forgotten,
08:36that's a scar on the democratic setup of our country,
08:40that is something that the people
08:41have actually felt in their lives.
08:43Now, Rahul Gandhi can feel he's a Shahzad in this country
08:45and he can do whatever and whenever.
08:48And, you know, probably it suits his vacation plan
08:50back from Vietnam, going to Bangkok.
08:52This 1st of November is best suited.
08:54That can be his plan, but not ours.
08:56This is point number one.
08:57Point number two, you know,
08:59my learned friend from the Congress party
09:01probably has not done enough research.
09:03He said, what were you doing last year?
09:04What were you doing, you know, in 2021, 2022?
09:08It was only after 31 years
09:10that the Modi government formed an SIT
09:12into the issues of Sikh massacre
09:14that happened in the national capital,
09:16after which that justice was actually served.
09:18The closure that the Sikh community got
09:21after the particular incident,
09:23which was tried to be buried by the Congress party
09:25and their leaders to save their leaders
09:27over so many years,
09:29was finally settled
09:30when Prime Minister Modi's government
09:32came into power
09:33and the issue got settled.
09:34Now, Congress party, you know,
09:36for so many years
09:37have tried to sideline the issue,
09:39hide the issue,
09:41shun down the sentiment
09:42You have sidelined the issue
09:43of Gujarat 2002.
09:44So, you know, your riot versus my riot
09:46is a very dangerous game
09:47to get into, sir.
09:49I am sorry, Rajdeep.
09:50This is not a bad thing.
09:52I have seen, I have reported on
09:5492, 93 Mumbai and 2002.
09:56This is not a bad thing, sir.
09:59All of you have blood on your hands.
10:00Let me say that very directly.
10:03Rajdeep, you don't need a certificate
10:04to anyone.
10:05No, I don't give a certificate.
10:07I have reported both.
10:08I am sorry, Rajdeep.
10:09So, don't take the moral high ground on that, sir.
10:11I am sorry, Rajdeep.
10:12I am sorry, Rajdeep.
10:13I am saying that I do not do any goalpost shifting.
10:16I do not do any comparisons.
10:17It is so unfortunate
10:18that if I am talking about the Sikh community
10:20massacre,
10:21you have to bring in any other riot
10:23or you have to bring in any other propaganda.
10:25It is so sorry to hear this.
10:26If you don't have sentiments
10:28that if the Sikh community riots
10:31that can be your choice.
10:33And I said this in your starting remark,
10:35you can do it.
10:351st November, you don't feel bad.
10:37It feels bad.
10:38But let me say this.
10:39I am coming on the agenda.
10:41You can feel,
10:42the Congress party can feel
10:43that a sea of people
10:44or a thousand people
10:45or 200 people
10:46or two people
10:47can come question
10:48and change the
10:49chief election commissioner
10:50and we are backing
10:51the chief election commissioner.
10:53Sorry, we are not.
10:54There is a constitutional process
10:55that has to be followed.
10:57Two people,
10:57200 people,
10:58two lakh people.
10:59They all can't change
11:00the chief election commissioner.
11:01There is a process,
11:02a parliament process
11:03that has to be followed.
11:04And it is so unfortunate
11:06that the Congress party
11:07doesn't believe in the constitution,
11:09doesn't believe in the democratic
11:10constitutional processes
11:11and they would only want to
11:12I have heard you, Siddharth.
11:13I only have a belief.
11:14Because they have to have someone
11:15I have to give him equal time.
11:17I have heard you.
11:18Salman shows,
11:19there is a point in what
11:20Siddharth Yadav says
11:21on constitutional processes.
11:22The matter is before
11:23the Supreme Court.
11:25The government will say,
11:26let the Supreme Court complete.
11:27My first initial question,
11:29will this matter be settled
11:30on the streets
11:30or in the courts?
11:31The matter is before the courts.
11:32Rahul Gandhi himself
11:33has petitioned the courts.
11:34Wait for the courts.
11:35Why this impatience?
11:37By the way,
11:38thank you, Rajdeep.
11:39But let me just tell my young friend
11:41that when you come on TV,
11:43you do proper research.
11:44That's good.
11:45They should also answer.
11:47I mean, you know,
11:47this is drama, right?
11:49The Sikh community knows
11:50that this is drama
11:51because these people are doing,
11:52but the Modi team
11:54has basically done nothing
11:55but drama for the last 12 years.
11:57Why did they organize
11:58and why did they organize?
12:01Please don't interrupt me.
12:02I did not interrupt you.
12:03No, but you're not answering
12:04my question, Mr. Soar.
12:05I'll answer your question.
12:06In 2021, by the way,
12:08the BJP organized
12:09the Maharashtra agitation
12:10on November 1.
12:11Why did they do it
12:12on November 1?
12:14Because they drama.
12:15You don't understand
12:16the difference
12:16between Maharashtra and Delhi.
12:18Please, please, please,
12:18please don't interrupt me.
12:20I did not interrupt you.
12:21Just be quiet.
12:23As far as your question is,
12:25it is our right
12:29to agitate
12:30for what we believe
12:31and what we believe
12:32is that this government,
12:34through the selection
12:35commission of India,
12:37is trying to hijack
12:39democracy in this country
12:40by stealing votes
12:42from legitimate voters
12:44in this country.
12:45These guys say,
12:47and the whole minister says,
12:48that there are infiltrators
12:49in this country.
12:50Then he should be fired.
12:51He should be sacked.
12:52Why are there infiltrators
12:53in this country?
12:54And by the way,
12:56they found, what,
12:57a thousand,
12:58less than a thousand people
13:00who are foreign nationals,
13:01and most of them
13:02are Nepalese.
13:03And some of them
13:04have left the country.
13:06I've heard,
13:07I gave,
13:08I gave,
13:09out of 13 crore people,
13:10no, no,
13:11you gave him more time.
13:12Out of 13 crore people,
13:13they found less than
13:14a thousand people
13:15who are foreigners.
13:16I've heard both of you,
13:17I've heard both of you
13:19patiently.
13:20You can decide
13:21what is a public,
13:22what is drama,
13:23what is spectacle,
13:24what is,
13:24what is a push
13:25for accountability,
13:27what is a legitimate
13:27protection.
13:28They're scared,
13:28they're scared.
13:30Okay.
13:30They're scared,
13:31you're saying,
13:32and according to the BJP,
13:34you're hurting the sentiments
13:35of the Sikh community
13:36by doing it on the first.
13:38Siddharth,
13:38Salman Sos,
13:40good to have both of you
13:41on the show tonight.
13:42Thank you very much.