New Delhi [India], October 16 (ANI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday defended the government’s efforts to clean up the electoral rolls, dismissing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s criticism. Shah emphasized that the Special Revision of Electoral Rolls (SIR) aims to remove ineligible voters, including infiltrators and those who have died or migrated, in an interview with Aaj Tak’s Anjana Om Kashyap.
Shah said the SIR process is necessary to prevent electoral fraud and ensure the integrity of the democratic process. “This isn’t the first time SIR is happening in this country. It started in 1953; it also happened during Rahul Gandhi’s grandmother’s father’s time… it happened during his grandmother’s time, it happened during his father’s time, and it happened during his mother’s time. Maybe nobody tells Rahul ji this truth. SIR is the purification of the voters’ list. When 10, 12, 17 years pass, many people die. Many people migrate for their work. Those names remain on the voters’ list. I want to ask this small question to Rahul ji: Should the voters’ list be cleansed or not? Another name for the purification of the voters’ list is SIR,” he said.
Shah alleged that the INDIA bloc is protesting the electoral roll cleanup because it would affect their vote bank, particularly in border areas where infiltrators have been added to the voters’ list. “They are protesting because after 2003 many foreign nationals have succeeded in getting their names added to the voters’ list in fraudulent ways. My straight question to the people of this country is: those who came from Bangladesh… who came from other countries… who are not our citizens, should they be allowed to take part in our election process? Our Constitution says only citizens of this country can be voters. Our law says only those aged 18 and above can be voters. On these two criteria the responsibility and duty to cleanse the voters’ list lie with the Election Commission. The INDIA bloc is upset because in the border areas, many infiltrator voters have already been added, and now, with the Election Commission’s purification, they are being removed from the voters’ list, and their vote bank is being disturbed. They set off on a vote-chori campaign out of fear of losing elections; now only the media is saying… Rahul has understood that the people of the country do not like this, so he has stopped saying,” he claimed.
Shah emphasized that infiltrators should not be allowed to vote, regardless of their religion, and criticized those who bring religion into the issue. “Muslims, if infiltrators, should we still let them remain on the voters’ list just because they are Muslim? Rahul ji should say, our party’s policy is that even if someone is Muslim and an infiltrator, still let them vote. We have no objection. Let the people of the country decide. There is no greater sin than bringing religion into the question of infiltrators. It harms our democracy. Infiltrators have no religion,” he said.
Responding to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s warning of “don’t play with fire or else be prepared for public outrage” over the SIR process in West Bengal, Shah said, “People used to say the same in Bihar. All the ballots were cast and the election will happen; it will happen in Bengal too.”
Shah reiterated the government’s stance on infiltrators, saying “detect, delete, deport” and emphasizing that the party’s agenda is clear. “First, we will identify them, then delete them from the voters’ list, and then deport them. Detect-delete-deport—this is our party’s fixed agenda; there’s no need for anyone to be confused about it,” he asserted. (ANI)
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