'Main chunauti deta hun ke ek naam bhi ghuspaithiya ka bataye jiska SIR mein samne aya ho ya delete hua ho (I challenge you to name even one infiltrator who was identified or deleted in the SIR).'
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday dared Union Minister Amit Shah to produce a list of names of "ghuspaithiya" (infiltrators) that had been deleted from the draft electoral rolls.
The draft was published on August 1 following a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, which had been carried out by the Election Commission of India in Bihar for over a month.
Tejashwi, who is also the Leader of the Opposition, accused Shah and other senior BJP leaders of spreading lies and baseless claims as part of their political agenda.
"Main chunauti deta hun ke ek naam bhi ghuspaithiya ka bataye jiska SIR mein samne aya ho ya delete hua ho (I challenge you to name even one infiltrator who was identified or deleted in the SIR)," Tejashwi said in chaste Hindi while addressing a press conference at his official residence.
Tejashwi, who has been aggressively questioning the SIR exercise, was referencing Amit Shah's visit to Bihar last week when the latter had alleged that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders were opposing the SIR because "infiltrators are their vote bank".
"Before the Bihar assembly elections, should the names of infiltrators be removed from the voter list or not?" Shah had asked while addressing a rally. "The Constitution of India does not give the right to vote to those who are not born in India."
Tejashwi responded by pointing out that the BJP-led NDA has been in power at the centre for over 11 years, and asked who had stopped Amit Shah from identifying and taking action against infiltrators if they existed, as he repeatedly alleged.
He stated that it is not the job of the Election Commission to identify and trace infiltrators. "Has the Election Commission of India given any names of infiltrators that were deleted in its affidavit to the Supreme Court of India in connection with the hearing on the SIR?" Tejashwi asked.
Tejashwi further said that despite allegations of vote fraud (vote chori), the Chief Election Commissioner was not addressing the nation to end suspicion and confusion. "Who is stopping him from replying and explaining directly?"
On August 1, the Election Commission published the draft electoral roll following the SIR, in which the names of 6.5 million voters were removed.
Last month, during the highly publicised SIR exercise, a report citing unnamed field-level officials of the Election Commission of India who were involved in the SIR, claimed that infiltrators' names had been found in the voter lists in the Seemanchal region bordering Nepal.
This triggered a fresh and heated debate over alleged infiltrators on voter lists in the state.
BJP leaders supported the report and claimed that Bihar's Seemanchal, which comprises the districts of Kishanganj, Purnea, Katihar, and Araria, is a Muslim-dominated and economically backward area. They claimed that the region, known for high poverty, unemployment, migration for livelihood, and lack of development, is a hub for infiltrators.
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff
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