Amit Shah in Hyderabad: Congress shielding 3 crore Bangladeshi infiltrators in voter rolls
Synopsis
Home Minister Amit Shah took the BJP's SIR campaign to Hyderabad on Monday with a striking claim: 3 crore of the 'absent' voters flagged for deletion are Bangladeshi infiltrators — and Congress, he charged, is fighting to keep them on the rolls. The speech reframes a bureaucratic electoral process as a national-security flashpoint, and directly challenges Rahul Gandhi to defend the claim on the floor of Parliament.
Key Takeaways
Home Minister Amit Shah alleged on 2 November 2026 that 3 crore Bangladeshi infiltrators are among voters proposed for deletion under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) .
Shah accused the Congress of opposing the SIR to protect infiltrators he called the party's 'vote bank' .
He disputed Rahul Gandhi's claim that 13 crore votes were deleted, saying those entries cover 6.25 crore shifted voters, 3 crore deceased, and 1 crore duplicates.
Shah challenged Gandhi to a special session of Parliament to debate the issue, saying Congress prefers 'anarchy' to floor debate.
He accused Telangana CM Revanth Reddy of turning the state into an 'ATM' for Delhi's Congress leadership, with six pre-election guarantees unmet.
Shah expressed confidence the BJP will win Telangana with a two-thirds majority.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday, 2 November 2026, alleged that approximately 3 crore Bangladeshi infiltrators are listed among the 'absent' voters proposed for deletion under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, and accused the Indian National Congress of attempting to protect them. Shah made the remarks while leading the 'Save Democracy Remove Anarchy' march in Hyderabad, organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as part of its nationwide counter-campaign against the INDIA bloc's opposition to the SIR process.
Shah's Core Allegation on SIR
Shah charged that Congress and its allies were seeking to halt the SIR specifically to preserve what he termed their 'vote bank' of Bangladeshi infiltrators. He characterised the INDIA bloc's rally held in Delhi on Sunday as a 'Save the infiltrators' rally.
'Congress and company are trying to stop SIR because infiltrators are their vote bank. BJP workers stand firmly with SIR. Only citizens of this country will be allowed to vote here,' Shah said, having led the foot march from Basheerbagh to Moazzam Jahi Market.
He further declared that the BJP would ensure every infiltrator is removed from the electoral rolls and 'driven out of the country.'
Rebuttal of Rahul Gandhi's 13-Crore Claim
Responding to Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's claim that 13 crore votes had been deleted under the SIR, Shah called the assertion a lie. He offered an alternative breakdown: 6.25 crore voters had shifted residence, approximately 3 crore were deceased, and 1 crore had duplicate entries.
'The Congress party wants to capture elections through bogus voting. If one person has two votes, should one of them be cancelled or not? Now we come to the source of Rahul Baba's stomach ache. Three crore votes are such that the people they belong to do not even exist. These are Bangladeshi infiltrators,' Shah said.
Challenge to Parliament and EVM Debate
Shah also issued a direct challenge to Rahul Gandhi on the floor of Parliament, saying the BJP was ready to convene a special session to debate the issues.
'I challenge you today from the land of Hyderabad. We are ready to convene a special session of Parliament. Come and participate in a discussion. But he will not participate because he knows that only through anarchy and disorder can the Congress party keep itself in the news,' Shah said.
Dismissing allegations of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) manipulation, Shah pointed to Congress-governed states. 'How do parties form governments in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh? If the EVMs are so bad, you should not have taken the oath of office,' he said.
Attacks on Telangana Congress Government
Shah trained sharp criticism on Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, alleging he had turned the entire state into an 'ATM for the Congress leaders sitting in Delhi.' He said the six guarantees made by Rahul Gandhi during the Telangana election campaign remained unfulfilled.
Shah asserted that neither the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) nor Asaduddin Owaisi could check corruption in the state, and only the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi could do so. He urged BJP cadres to work toward winning Telangana with a two-thirds majority.
What Comes Next
The BJP's nationwide SIR campaign and the INDIA bloc's counter-mobilisation are set to intensify ahead of upcoming electoral cycles, with the voter roll revision process itself likely to face continued legal and political scrutiny. Shah's Hyderabad speech signals the BJP's intent to keep infiltration and electoral integrity at the centre of its political messaging going forward.
Point of View
Making opposition to the SIR politically toxic for the Congress. The '3 crore infiltrators' figure is a powerful rhetorical device, but it has not been independently verified — and the Election Commission has not publicly attributed those deletions to Bangladeshi nationals specifically. By conflating administrative categories (deceased voters, duplicate entries, shifted voters) with illegal immigration, the BJP conflates a civic process with an emotive identity issue. This is not an accident; with Telangana elections on the horizon and the INDIA bloc visibly mobilising, the SIR debate is being fought as much in the court of public opinion as in any courtroom or electoral tribunal.
NationPress
2 Nov 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) that Amit Shah is defending?
The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is an Election Commission of India exercise to clean up electoral rolls by removing entries of voters who are deceased, have shifted, or appear as duplicates. The BJP is backing the SIR while the INDIA bloc has opposed it, alleging mass deletion of legitimate voters.
What exactly did Amit Shah claim about Bangladeshi infiltrators?
Shah alleged that approximately 3 crore of the 'absent' voters proposed for deletion under the SIR are Bangladeshi infiltrators who do not legitimately exist in India's voter rolls. He said Congress was opposing the SIR to protect these entries, which he described as the party's 'vote bank.' The claim has not been independently verified.
How did Amit Shah respond to Rahul Gandhi's claim that 13 crore votes were deleted?
Shah called the claim a lie. He said the roughly 13 crore deletions break down into 6.25 crore voters who shifted, about 3 crore who are deceased, 1 crore with duplicate entries, and — he alleged — 3 crore who are Bangladeshi infiltrators with no genuine existence in the rolls.
What challenge did Shah issue to Rahul Gandhi on Parliament?
Shah challenged Rahul Gandhi to a floor debate, saying the BJP is ready to convene a special session of Parliament to discuss the SIR and related issues. He accused Gandhi of preferring 'anarchy and disorder' over parliamentary debate because he knows the Congress arguments would not survive scrutiny.
What did Shah say about Telangana's Congress government?
Shah accused Chief Minister Revanth Reddy of turning Telangana into an 'ATM' for Delhi-based Congress leaders, and said none of the six guarantees made before the state election had been fulfilled. He called on BJP workers to build toward a two-thirds majority in the next Telangana election.
