Politics

Amit Shah Denies Congress Claims of 3‑Crore Bangladeshi Voters in Electoral Roll Revision

By Rajeev Singh

Union Home Minister Amit Shah criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, saying the opposition’s allegations are unfounded. In a speech in New Delhi on Monday, Shah responded to Rahul’s rally at Ramlila Maidan by stating that the Congress’s claim that 13 crore voters were deleted during the purge was misleading. He said that 6.25 crore voters had simply moved to new addresses, about 3 crore were deceased, and roughly 1 crore were duplicate entries. Shah added that the remaining 3 crore voters do not exist and are “Bangladeshi infiltrators.” He accused the Congress of attempting to “capture elections through bogus voting.” Shah also dismissed Rahul’s suggestion that Narendra Modi’s electoral victories were due to the SIR, pointing out that Modi won in 2014 and 2019 when no SIR had been conducted. He reiterated that only Indian citizens are eligible to vote. The minister concluded by praising Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel for integrating Hyderabad into India. Shah led a foot march called ‘Maha Padyatra’ as part of the BJP’s campaign to counter the anti‑SIR campaign launched by the INDIA bloc. The march began at the Babu Jagjivan Ram statue in Basheerbagh and included several party leaders and workers. The event was covered by Rajeev Singh, Digital Content Producer for The Times of India.