Amit Shah Emphasizes Clean Voter List and Fights Against Infiltration

PTI, NEW DELHI, OCT 10, 2025 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday supported the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, asserting that the inclusion of infiltrators in the voters' list pollutes the spirit of the Constitution. He stressed that voting rights should only be available to citizens of the country.

Delivering a lecture in memory of Narendra Mohan, the former editor-in-chief of Dainik Jagran, Shah spoke on the topic of "infiltration, demographic change, and democracy". He said that the Centre would follow the policy of "detect, delete, and deport" while dealing with infiltrators. Shah emphasized that infiltration and the SIR of electoral rolls by the Election Commission should not be viewed from a political angle, as it is a national issue. He also criticized the Congress party for entering into a "denial mode" on the issue of SIR, adding that the exercise had taken place during the party’s tenure as well.

"The Opposition is opposing this exercise because their vote banks are being affected. It is the Election Commission's constitutional responsibility to clean the voters' list. If you have any issues, you can go to court," Shah said. He also noted that free and fair elections cannot take place unless the voter list is in accordance with the voters' definition, which is being an Indian citizen and reaching the eligible age.

Shah underlined the difference between an infiltrator and a refugee. He said a refugee comes to India to save their religion, while an infiltrator illegally crosses the border, not due to religious persecution, but for economic or other reasons. "Who are infiltrators? Those who have not faced religious persecution and want to come to India illegally for economic or other reasons are infiltrators," he said. "If anyone in the world who wants to come here is allowed to do so, our country will become a 'dharamshala'," Shah added. He also presented the 'Jagran Sahitya Srijan Samman' in memory of Narendra Mohan, an award given for an original work in various genres of Hindi literature.