New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fully supports the implementation of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across India and the removal of all “infiltrators” from voter lists.
Speaking at the ‘Hindustan Bihar Samagam’ event in New Delhi during an interaction with Hindustan Editor-in-Chief Shashi Shekhar, Shah accused opposition parties of opposing the move for political gain.
“BJP strongly supports the implementation of the SIR across the country and removal of every infiltrator from the voters’ list,” he said. “Those who try to create a vote bank by nurturing infiltrators are hurt by the SIR.”
He alleged that parties such as the RJD and the Congress were engaging in “politics of polarisation” over the issue. “Should any infiltrator be spared just because he is Muslim?” Shah asked.
The Home Minister said that Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh refugees who came from Bangladesh and Pakistan “as much rights in this country as the people of this country have.”
Shah also accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) of “welcoming infiltrators” in West Bengal and Jharkhand for electoral gains. He claimed that infiltration from neighbouring countries does not occur in BJP-ruled states such as Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Assam.
“In Bengal and Jharkhand infiltrators are welcomed for vote bank,” he said. “Bengal will be free from infiltrators after Mamata (Banerjee) didi’s government is dislodged and BJP comes to power.”
Reiterating the government’s stance on internal security, Shah said India would be free from Naxal violence by March 31 next year and urged Maoists to lay down arms and join the mainstream.
“Wherever Naxalism has ended, development has accelerated. Naxalites should give up arms and join the mainstream. Anyone who resorts to violence with weapons will get bullets in return,” he said.
He added that the Modi government’s anti-terror operations have made it clear that “there is no place for terrorism in India.”