The Lok Sabha witnessed intense debate over electoral reforms and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists yesterday.

 

 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched a forceful attack on the Opposition, accusing them of protecting illegal immigrants to secure their vote banks. He said, infiltrators cannot decide who will be the Prime Minister and Chief Minister in the country. 

 

 

Mr Shah asserted that the SIR aims to cleanse electoral rolls by removing duplicate entries and illegal immigrants. He added that while one’s name appearing in multiple places could be a genuine mistake, allowing such duplication undermines the credibility of elections.

 

 

Highlighting the broader implications, Mr Shah warned that demographic manipulation cannot be allowed to divide the nation again. He also highlighted the continuous infiltration along the 2,216 km-long Bangladesh frontier and accused parties like the Trinamool Congress and Congress of engaging in “politics of protecting infiltrators,” cautioning that voters would hold them accountable at the ballot box.

 

 

Home Minister reiterated the government’s policy of “detect, delete, and deport,” making it clear that illegal immigrants would not be normalised or recognised in voter lists. Mr Shah stressed that the purpose of SIR is not to target any community but to safeguard democracy and ensure free and fair.