INFILTRATORS CANNOT DECIDE PM OR CM, SAYS HM AMIT SHAH IN LOK SABHA

New Delhi, Dec 11, 2025 : The Lok Sabha witnessed intense debate over electoral reforms and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists, as Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched a forceful attack on the Opposition, accusing them of protecting illegal immigrants to secure their vote banks.

“Infiltrators cannot decide who will be the Prime Minister and Chief Minister of the country,” HM Shah asserted, emphasizing 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.

Shah directly targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, describing his recent remarks as a “journey to protect infiltrators” and warning that such politics endangered the country’s future. “If you protect the intruder with Rahul Gandhi’s ghuspethiya bachao yatra, you will be wiped out, and the BJP will win again,” he declared.

Highlighting the broader implications, Shah warned that demographic manipulation could not be allowed to divide the nation again. “This country was divided once, and we do not want the new generation to see such division again,” he said, framing the debate as a matter of national security and democratic integrity.

Shah 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.

He 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. The Home Minister stressed that the purpose of SIR was not to target any community but to safeguard democracy and ensure free and fair elections.

Tracing the history of the SIR, Shah noted that the exercise dates back to 1952, under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and has been conducted under successive governments, including those led by Lal Bahadur Shastri, Rajiv Gandhi, PV Narasimha Rao, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. “Till 2004, no one objected to SIR. It is a process by which we can improve elections and make our democracy healthy. If the voter list is corrupt, how can we expect to conduct free and fair elections?” he asked.

Shah alleged that the Opposition’s concern stemmed from the SIR’s potential to remove illegal immigrants from voter lists, who he claimed formed part of their support base. “Should illegal immigrants participate in elections in India?” he questioned.

During the debate, Shah also responded to demands from the INDIA bloc for elections to be conducted using ballot papers instead of EVMs and for the Leader of the Opposition and Chief Justice to be part of the Chief Election Commissioner’s appointment committee. He accused Congress and its allies of spreading misinformation and pointed out that voter list revisions had been carried out repeatedly during Congress governments, including under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The two-day debate was marked by sharp exchanges, opposition protests, and walkouts, reflecting the widening gulf between the ruling NDA and the INDIA bloc over electoral reforms. HM Shah insisted the government was not avoiding debate but underscored that revising voter lists was essential to protect the integrity of India’s democratic process and prevent illegal influence in elections.