SIR opposed to keep illegal immigrants on poll rolls, says Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday accused the Opposition in the Lok Sabha of protesting against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to keep “avaidh ghuspathiye”, or illegal immigrants, on the voters’ lists.

 

“I want to ask the House and people: Can a country's democracy be safe when the prime minister and chief minister are decided by ‘ghuspathiyes’,” Shah said.

 

He added that the ruling parties in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal will be wiped out if they hinder SIR. He said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s policy is to detect, delete and deport illegal immigrants.

 

During his speech, Shah and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi got into a war of words when the latter asserted that the Union Home Minister had failed to counter the issues raised by him in the House on Tuesday. “I had asked a question yesterday (Tuesday). For the first time in India's history, a decision was taken that election commissioners will be given full immunity. He (Shah) must tell us the thinking behind this,” Gandhi said.

 

The Congress leader challenged Shah to a debate on the three press conferences on “vote theft” that he has addressed in recent months.

 

Shah retorted that he will not frame his speech according to the wishes of the Leader of Opposition and also not change the sequence of his argument on someone else's demand.

 

“Amit Shah gave a defensive response. This is a response of being rattled and scared,” Gandhi said. To mark their protest, Opposition members walked out of the House after Shah’s speech.

 

In his speech, Shah alleged that the Congress had indulged in three instances of “vote chori” (theft), including when Jawaharlal Nehru, and not Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, became the prime minister after Independence despite the latter having more support.

 

He claimed the latest dispute of third “vote chori” has just reached civil courts on how Sonia Gandhi became a voter before becoming a citizen of India. The home minister said the second instance of “vote theft” was when Indira Gandhi, the then prime minister, granted herself immunity after court set aside her election.

 

To Gandhi’s allegation that the government is allowing members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) “to capture key institutions”, Shah said there is no law in the country that disallows an RSS activist from holding key positions.

 

Shah attributed the Opposition’s protest against the SIR to the incompetence of its leadership to win elections, and not electronic voting machines or “vote chori (theft)”.

 

He rejected Gandhi’s allegation that EC is deciding election schedules to suit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s travel. Shah said there is no such linkage and the PM is always among the people.

 

On SIR, Shah said the first such exercise was conducted in 1952, then in 1957 and 1961, when Nehru was the prime minister.

 

“Then it happened during Lal Bahadur Shastri's time, then again during Indira Gandhi's time, Rajiv Gandhi's time, P V Narasimha Rao's time, and then in 2002 during Atal Bihari Vajpayee's time which continued till Manmohan Singh's time,” he said.