Union Home Minister Amit Shah defended the electoral roll revision in Hyderabad, vowing to remove illegal infiltrators and challenging the Opposition to a parliamentary debate regarding the integrity of India’s voter lists.
Amit Shah Counters Opposition on Electoral Roll Revision
November 2 (ANI): Launching a blistering counter-offensive against the Opposition over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stands firmly behind the cleanup drive and will ensure that every single “illegal Bangladeshi infiltrator” is purged from voter lists across the country.
Addressing a massive gathering at Tank Bund following the Telangana BJP’s ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ (Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy) padyatra in Hyderabad, Shah fiercely defended the SIR exercise, brushed aside allegations of electoral manipulation, and challenged Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to an open debate on the floor of Parliament.
Defense of the SIR Exercise
“Rahul ji, put in as much effort as you want; we will ensure that every single infiltrator is removed from the electoral rolls. He says that we won only because of the SIR. I want to ask Rahul ji: In 2014, Modi ji won. There was no SIR then, was there? So, did Modi ji win because of the SIR? He won because of the votes of the people. Modi ji won in 2019 as well. There was no SIR then. Did Modi ji win or not? He won because of the voters of India. After 2024, we won in Maharashtra with the biggest majority. We won in Haryana with the biggest majority. After 30 years, we won in Delhi. We won in Bihar with the biggest majority. In Bengal too, Didi’s entire political standing has been wiped out,” Shah said.
Elaborating on the necessity of the SIR exercise, the Union Home Minister stated that the revision is aimed at eliminating widespread electoral duplication. “If one person has two votes, should one of them be cancelled or not? Now we come to the source of ‘Rahul Baba’s’ stomach ache. Three crore votes are such that the people they belong to do not even exist. These are Bangladeshi infiltrators. By opposing the SIR, the Congress party wants to protect Bangladeshi infiltrators in the country’s electoral rolls. But I have come here today to say that Rahul ji and Revanth Reddy ji can put in as much effort as they want. The BJP will ensure that every single infiltrator is removed from the voter list and driven out of the country,” Shah said, adding that “only those who are citizens of this country will be allowed to vote here.”
Opposition Rally Criticized
Lashing out at the INDIA bloc’s recent “Vote Bachao” (Save the Vote) demonstration in New Delhi, Shah said the Opposition’s protest was not aimed at protecting democracy, but at shielding illegal foreign nationals for electoral gains. “Thousands of people are standing on the roads in Hyderabad today. Yesterday, a rally was held in Delhi. Rahul ji claimed it was a ‘Vote Bachao’ rally. This was not a ‘Vote Bachao’ rally; this was a ‘Save the Infiltrators’ rally,” Shah said.
Challenging the Opposition to discuss the issue legally rather than disrupting House proceedings, Shah said, “I challenge you today from the land of Hyderabad. We are ready to convene a special session of Parliament. Come and participate in a discussion. But he will not participate in the discussion because he knows that only through anarchy and disorder can the Congress party keep itself in the news.” Taking a dig at Gandhi over his recent “mock Parliament” exercise, Shah remarked that mock sessions were the closest Gandhi would ever get to the Prime Minister’s chair.
Political Developments in Telangana
Earlier in the day, the Union Home Minister commenced his visit by offering prayers at the Sri Bhagya Laxmi Mata temple near the iconic Charminar in the Old City. He subsequently led the party’s padyatra from the Swami Vivekananda statue to the Dr BR Ambedkar statue at Tank Bund, flanked by senior leaders and thousands of workers waving party flags and holding portraits of Amit Shah. The march was organised by the BJP to counter the INDIA bloc’s nationwide campaign against the Election Commission, coming a day after Rahul Gandhi addressed a rally at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, alleging vote theft and claiming that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar would face jail time.
Turning his guns on the ruling Congress in Telangana, Shah accused Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of turning the state into an “ATM” for the Congress high command in Delhi. “Revanth Reddy ji, you have turned the entire Telangana into an ATM for the Congress leaders sitting in Delhi. The people of Telangana will never forgive you. Rahul ji had promised six guarantees, but not even one has been fulfilled,” Shah said, as BJP workers displayed satirical posters of CM Revanth Reddy on a saline drip, symbolising what they termed as administrative paralysis and systemic failure in the state.
Shah also called out Rahul Gandhi and the Opposition’s consistent criticism of EVMs whenever they lose elections, stating, “Rahul ji, If EVMs are faulty, how did Revanth Reddy become Chief Minister? How did your government come to power in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Himachal Pradesh? When you win, the credit goes to the people, but when you lose, you blame EVMs.”
Reactions and Opposition Stance
Reacting sharply to Shah’s visit, the Congress and other opposition parties slammed the BJP’s outreach. Congress leader Pawan Khera attacked Shah for prioritising political campaigns over the ethnic strife in Manipur, stating, “Five Kuki men were killed in 24 hours. Ideally, one would expect the Home Minister to be focused on Manipur… but for the BJP, Manipur can wait, Congress-bashing cannot.”
Telangana Minister Ponnam Prabhakar raised questions over the electoral roll revision and demanded the inclusion of an explicit Other Backward Classes (OBC) category in the upcoming Census. “We demand that BJP MPs and representatives from the Backwards Classes (BC) request a meeting with him and that a specific option for the Backwards Classes be included. We urge HM Amit Shah to address the issue of ‘vote theft’ specifically, the complaints regarding the distribution of Form 6 and Form 7 documents, allegedly facilitated by the RSS office and BJP leaders, which are being used to remove voters from the electoral rolls,” Prabhakar said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut also took a swipe at the march, remarking, “The destroyers of democracy are holding rallies to save democracy; this is the biggest irony.” Former Telangana Minister and BRS leader Mahmood Ali also hit out at Shah’s visit to the city, alleging it disrupted local traffic and daily business without addressing the state’s actual administrative and law-and-order requirements. “We request him to help improve the law and order situation, particularly in Hyderabad… During election campaigns, padayatras are understandable. But there are no elections at present. His foot march in the Old City has disrupted traffic, affected businesses and forced street vendors to move away… The law and order situation in Hyderabad has deteriorated. Several murders are taking place in the Old City… We are happy that Amit Shah has visited, but rather than holding a padayatra, he should try to bring improvements in law and order and traffic management,” Ali said.
During his visit, the Union Home Minister also met father-son acting duo, Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan, at their residence in Hyderabad, with the Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy also present during the brief interaction.
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