Congress questioned Amit Shah about infiltrators allegedly detected, deleted and deported after SIR. The exchange intensified concerns over electoral roll removals and voting rights.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh (left) and Home Minister Amit Shah (right)
Newdelhi,Oct 14, 2026 14:58 IST
The Congress on Wednesday responded to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's criticism of the Opposition's 'vote chori' protests by asking how many 'ghuspaithiye', or infiltrators, had been detected, removed from electoral rolls and deported following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh accused those behind the revision of using the issue of infiltrators to divert attention from what he described as the removal of nearly 14 crore Indians' right to vote. His remarks came after Shah accused the Opposition of planning to get infiltrators registered as voters.
In a post on X, Ramesh said in Hindi, 'The reality is that the architects of the Shah Instigated Removal (SIR) exercise are repeatedly trying to divert attention from the real issue by invoking the infiltrator argument. Whereas the truth is that the desperate duo of PM-HM has stripped nearly 14 crore Indians of their constitutional right to vote.'
Ramesh then posed three questions to Shah. 'Here are three very simple and straightforward questions to the Union Home Minister, who has been defending SIR: 1. How many ghuspaithiye were detected? 2. How many ghuspaithiye were deleted? 3. How many ghuspaithiye were deported?'
The Congress leader said 100 crore Indians had been put through the SIR process and deserved to know its results.
'Is he suggesting that these 14 crore Indians are ghuspaithiye? Has there been a massive increase in the number of infiltrators in the country under his oversight as Home Minister?' Ramesh asked.
In his first remarks on the ongoing protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the SIR exercise, Shah on Tuesday asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the Opposition to be prepared for another 'crushing defeat' in 2029. He said people supported Prime Minister Narendra Modi and claimed that the country could see through the Leader of the Opposition's 'plan' to get infiltrators registered as voters.
Shah also said that while the SIR began in 2024, the Congress had been losing continuously since Gandhi took over the party's leadership. Criticising Gandhi, he said the people of India knew about the Leader of the Opposition's plans to get infiltrators registered as voters.
The exchange centred on the electoral roll revision, with the Congress demanding figures on infiltrators detected, removed and deported, while Shah accused the Opposition of seeking to register infiltrators as voters.
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With PTI inputs