'Detect, Delete, Deport Every Intruder': Amit Shah Thunders In Lok Sabha Amid Oppn Walk Out | Top Points

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday declared that the government's aim is to "detect, delete, and deport every infiltrator" living in the country. He made the strong remarks during a debate on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the Lok Sabha, which prompted an opposition walkout.

Opposition MPs walked out of the Lok Sabha during Union Home Minister Amit Shah's reply to the discussion on electoral reforms.

Criticizing the Opposition for staging the walk-out, Shah said, "They can boycott 200 times, not even one infiltrator will be allowed to vote in this country...I was speaking about pushing infiltrators out of the country. I levelled numerous allegations against Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, his (Rahul Gandhi's) father, Sonia ji; had they walked out at that time, it would have been logical. They walked out over infiltrators. Our policy is 'detect, delete and deport.' Their policy is 'normalise infiltration, grant them recognition, include them in the vote list during election, and formalise this."

Shah further asserted that the opposition is worried because they can no longer win elections through corruption.

"Opposition worried because they can no longer run away with ballot boxes and win election by corrupt practices," he said.

He accused the opposition of spreading lies about SIR and misleading the public.

"For four months, one-sided lies were spread about SIR. Attempts were made to mislead the people of the country," he said, adding, "Opposition raised the issue of SIR to keep illegal immigrants in voter lists."

Addressing the "vote chori" (vote theft) allegations made by the opposition, the Home Minister countered with historical examples: "Post Independence, Sardar Patel was backed by 28 persons, J L Nehru by two persons; yet Nehru became PM, this was vote chori. Second 'vote chori' was by Indira Gandhi, when she granted herself immunity after court set aside her election. The dispute of the third 'vote chori' has just reached civil courts on how Sonia Gandhi became a voter before becoming a citizen of India," Shah said.

He further advocated for "free and fair" elections, stating, "Until 2004, no party ever objected to the SIR process because it is meant to keep elections clean and safeguard democracy. If the voter list itself is corrupted, how can elections be free and fair?"

He claimed the tradition of electoral loss for the Congress began in 2014, and they then "blamed EVMs, which were brought by Rajiv Gandhi in 1989."

He attributed the reason for the opposition's loss to their leadership.

"The reason for electoral loss is your leadership, not EVM or electoral rolls," he stated.

He accused the Congress of "double standards" and raking up the issue of SIR as per their convenience.

"In his press conference, the LoP levelled allegations that the voter list is not corrected and needs to be rectified. So, what is SIR? It is the procedure to sanitise the voter list. He is opposing even when we are undertaking the process...Your defeat is certain; the voter list doesn’t have to do anything with it. He said that the BJP never has to face anti-incumbency. Anti-incumbency is only against those who work against the public interest. It is true that the BJP had to face anti-incumbency very rarely...But it is not as if we have never lost any election after 2014...Double standards won't work in a democracy. When you win, EC is great. When you lose, EC is useless and works at BJP's behest," he said.

Opposition MPs on Wednesday staged a walkout in the Lower House (Lok Sabha) of the Parliament amid Union Home Minister Amit Shah's reply to the discussion on electoral reforms in the House.

After their walkout, Union Home Minister Amit Shah took a jibe at the opposition, saying that they didn't walk out when he levelled allegations against former Prime Ministers Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, but walked out on the issue of infiltrators.

The Lok Sabha has been adjourned till December 11.

Also Read: 'Can Democracy in Any Country Be Safe If Infiltrators Decide the PM or CM?', 'SIR Only a Sanitisation of Voter List': Amit Shah