Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused Rahul Gandhi and opposition parties of opposing Bihar’s voter list clean-up for political reasons, defending the SIR exercise as a necessary and long-standing process to remove ineligible names before elections.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition parties of blocking the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar for political gain. Speaking at an election rally in Sitamarhi, Shah alleged that the real reason behind their objection was that ‘infiltrators are their vote bank’. He said the voter list clean-up was meant to ensure only eligible citizens can vote. Shah stressed that the SIR exercise was not introduced by the current government but had been first started by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. It was last conducted in 2003.
“Rahul Gandhi must stop his vote bank politics. This process was started by his great-grandfather. Now that they are losing elections, they are already finding excuses,” Shah slammed the Congress leader at Bihar rally.
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Strong words for RJD and Congress
Amit Shah also took aim at Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), accusing it of encouraging hooliganism during its rule in Bihar and failing to develop the state. He compared railway funding under the RJD era to the NDA’s term, claiming that former Union Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav sanctioned ₹1,132 crore for railway infrastructure, while the current government allotted Rs 10,066 crore in FY 2026. Shah connected the SIR process with national security, accusing the opposition of wanting to keep illegal immigrants, especially Bangladeshis, on voter lists.
“The Constitution does not give voting rights to those who are not born in India. Yet they oppose removing such names because it affects their vote bank,” he said.
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Amit Shah expressed confidence that the NDA would win the upcoming Bihar assembly elections with a ‘thumping majority’. He also defended recent security actions like ‘Operation Sindoor’ and criticised the Congress and RJD for opposing them.
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What is Bihar SIR?
The Special Intensive Revision, launched by the Election Commission of India on June 24, aims to update the state’s voter list. Booth-Level Officers are conducting house-to-house verification across Bihar to identify ineligible names and update records. The Opposition INDIA bloc has alleged that the SIR could lead to the deletion of genuine voters, and has raised the issue both in the state and in Parliament.