Amit Shah
NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that while infiltration has stopped in BJP-ruled Assam, it continues in neighbouring West Bengal, claiming that the state government is giving a “red carpet welcome” to illegal immigrants.Addressing a media conclave in Patna, Shah also mocked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for dropping the allegation of “vote theft,” and said the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls would remove “infiltrators.”
“It is baffling that the opposition has been getting a bellyache over an exercise launched by the Election Commission, which would weed out infiltrators. I am fully in support of the SIR exercise, which would eventually take place in the entire country,” he said at the conclave, as reported by news agency PTI.When reminded that the opposition blamed the Centre for infiltration in the country, which has been in power at the Centre for 11 years, Shah said, “People sitting in Lutyens Delhi have no idea of what the borders are like. The border with Bangladesh has dense forests and mighty rivers, which are in spate during the monsoons. Fencing is impossible, and so is round-the-clock vigil. Boats for security personnel manning the borders also tend to get washed away. “”My point is, when a person from the neighbouring country enters our territory, can it not be known to the local police station and the patwari? Why do these officials not raise an alarm? Because they are under orders from above to give a red carpet (‘lal jaajim’) welcome to these infiltrators. This is the reason why infiltration is rampant in West Bengal but has been checked in Assam,” he added.Shah urged people in West Bengal to vote out chief minister Mamata Banerjee in next year’s assembly elections and promised to “drive out every infiltrator” from the state.Claiming that Gandhi has dropped the “vote chori” charge, Shah said, “on the very few occasions that he has been seen in public, he has never made the charge in the last 15 days. Perhaps the people of Bihar have made him give up on the charge. He must have been under advice based on some feedback.”The reference was to Gandhi’s ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar, which protested the SIR exercise, alleging it aimed to disenfranchise voters.Shah also rejected opposition claims that the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill, which allows removal of ministers including the PM and CMs if jailed for 30 days or more, was meant to destabilise governments in non-BJP states.”I had stepped down when a case was pending against me in the court, and did not accept a post until I was acquitted. We have seen, in the recent past, governments being run by people behind bars. That cannot be allowed. Why is the opposition so scared? The Bill does not stipulate that a minister be removed as soon as his name comes up in an FIR,” he said.
