Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday hit out at the Opposition over its walkout from Lok Sabha, saying they left only when he began speaking about action against illegal immigrants. He said his speech also contained criticism of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, but the Opposition chose to exit when he detailed the government’s bid to remove “all illegal immigrants” under the “detect, delete and deport” policy. According to Shah, their approach is to “normalise infiltration”, enrol such individuals and then add them to the voters’ list, whereas the government will ensure “not a single infiltrator will be allowed to vote.”
Shah alleged that opposition parties are primarily interested in protecting illegal residents and intruders, claiming their “main concern” is to keep such people on the electoral rolls. He framed their resistance as an attempt to safeguard a vote bank built on undocumented entrants and infiltrators, insisting that the government’s stance and strategy will remain unchanged despite the walkout.
Questioning the Opposition’s stand on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), Shah pointed out that EVMs were introduced in 1989 under then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and asked why the Congress is now objecting to them. Citing the 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha elections, he said the party had no issue with EVMs when those polls were held, and asked why Congress and other parties stayed away from the Election Commission’s EVM hackathon or failed to move court if they believed the machines were compromised.
On Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Shah said the first such exercise was carried out in 1952 during Jawaharlal Nehru’s tenure, and that subsequent SIRs were conducted under Congress governments in 1957, 1961, 1965–66 and 1983–84. He noted that until 2004 no political party objected to SIR, calling it essential for clean rolls and a “healthy democracy.” If the electoral lists are not accurate and updated, he argued, the overall election process cannot be transparent and fair, making periodic SIRs necessary to “sanitise” voter data.
Shah also targeted the Opposition for what he termed double standards on the Election Commission. Referring to remarks by the Leader of Opposition that voter lists were faulty and needed correction, he said SIR is precisely the mechanism to address such concerns and accused opponents of criticising the very process that fixes the rolls. “When you win, EC is great. When you lose, EC is useless and works at BJP’s behest,” he remarked, calling this attitude inconsistent in a democracy.
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Defending the integrity of elections, Shah said the NDA has won three Lok Sabha polls and 41 assembly elections since 2014, while Congress has also won 30 state elections in the last 11 years. If the process were rigged, he asked, how Congress could have secured those victories. He insisted that the Opposition’s real problem lies in its leadership, not in EVMs or electoral rolls, and claimed they are uneasy because they can no longer “run away with ballot boxes” or rely on past “corrupt practices.”
After the Opposition walkout, Rahul Gandhi told reporters that Shah’s reply was “totally defensive” and failed to address key questions raised. Gandhi said he had demanded a transparent voter list and asked for details on the EVM architecture, but “he did not say a word” on those points. He also alleged that the Chief Election Commissioner has been given “full immunity,” reiterating his concerns about election transparency and institutional accountability.