‘Voting rights to Genuine Citizens’

* Before the march, Shah offered prayers at the Bhagyalakshmi Temple near Charminar. In his address, he began by paying respects at the feet of Goddess Bhagyalakshmi and offering tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. “If Sardar Patel had not made the Nizam bow down at that time, Hyderabad would not be a part of India today. It was Sardar Patel who made the Nizam of Hyderabad surrender and ensured that Hyderabad became part of India,” Shah said, linking the city’s integration into the Indian Union to Patel’s decisive role.

metro india news  I hyderabad : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday declared that there is no truth in the Opposition allegations on Vote Chori and assured that the Centre would ensure that not a single infiltrator is given voting right. He warned Rahul Gandhi and CM Revanth that any amount their might will not stop the NDA government from eliminating the infiltrators from the voting list.

Addressing a massive public meeting, Lok Tantra Bachao, Arajaktha Hatao, The union Home Minister dispelled the claims that around 13 crore names had been deleted, Shah provided a breakdown: more than six crore entries belonged to people who had relocated, nearly three crore were of deceased persons, about one crore were duplicates, and three crore represented unaccounted entries he described as illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators. “By opposing SIR, the Congress wants to protect Bangladeshi infiltrators from being removed from the country’s electoral rolls.

I have come here today to tell Rahul Gandhi and Revanth Reddy that they can use all their might, but the BJP will not rest until every single infiltrator is removed from the electoral rolls and driven out of the country,” he declared. He insisted that only genuine Indian citizens should have the right to vote and accused the Congress of seeking to capture elections through bogus voting.⁠

Shah challenged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to a debate in a special session of Parliament on SIR, electronic voting machines and related issues. He claimed the opposition preferred street anarchy because it feared scrutiny in the House, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s arguments would prevail. Taking a sharp dig at the Congress’s organisational strength, Shah said: “The Congress party itself is on a ventilator. Can this ventilator party run a marathon alongside Modi ji? Rahul ji, forget Modi ji. Even my Telangana Yuva Morcha president will defeat you.” He also remarked that Rahul Gandhi would never become Prime Minister.

Turning to state politics, Shah accused Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy of turning the state into an “ATM for the Congress leaders sitting in Delhi.” He charged that none of the six guarantees promised by Rahul Gandhi had been fulfilled and alleged large-scale corruption and a conspiracy to sell the state’s interests. “Can the Congress party stop the corruption taking place in Telangana and the conspiracy to sell the state? Can Owaisi stop it? Can the BRS stop it? No. Only the Bharatiya Janata Party, under the leadership of Modi ji, can stop it,” Shah asserted.

On electronic voting machines, Shah pointed to the contradiction in the Congress stance: the party accepted victories in Telangana, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu but blamed EVMs when it lost. He listed recent BJP successes in Maharashtra, Haryana, Delhi, Bihar, Bengal and Assam and expressed confidence that Telangana would follow. Shah also recalled past Congress-era scams amounting to Rs 12 lakh crore and highlighted the central government’s actions against terrorism through surgical strikes, airstrikes and other operations. He reiterated the goal of making India drug-free before December 31, 2029.⁠

Earlier, Amit Shah led a major Bharatiya Janata Party padayatra and public meeting in Hyderabad today under the banner “Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao” (Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy), drawing large crowds of party workers and supporters in a direct counter to the opposition INDIA bloc’s recent campaign on electoral rolls.⁠

The one-kilometre foot march began near the Babu Jagjivan Ram statue opposite Nizam College grounds in the Basheerbagh-Abids area and concluded at Mozamjahi Market, where Amit Shah addressed a massive public gathering. Heavy security arrangements and traffic diversions were in place along the route, which saw thousands of BJP cadres waving saffron flags. Cultural displays featuring Telangana traditions such as Bonalu and Bathukamma added local flavour to the procession. Senior leaders including Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of State Bandi Sanjay Kumar and Telangana BJP president N. Ramchander Rao accompanied Shah.⁠

Before the march, Shah offered prayers at the Bhagyalakshmi Temple near Charminar. In his address, he began by paying respects at the feet of Goddess Bhagyalakshmi and offering tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. “If Sardar Patel had not made the Nizam bow down at that time, Hyderabad would not be a part of India today. It was Sardar Patel who made the Nizam of Hyderabad surrender and ensured that Hyderabad became part of India,” Shah said, linking the city’s integration into the Indian Union to Patel’s decisive role.⁠

The padayatra formed part of the BJP’s nationwide response to the opposition’s “Vote Bachao” or “vote chori” narrative following the INDIA bloc’s rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on November 1. Shah dismissed the opposition event as a “Save Infiltrators” rally rather than a genuine effort to protect votes. He strongly defended the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, arguing that the Congress and its allies opposed the exercise to protect illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators who form part of their vote bank.⁠

The event projected the BJP’s organisational reach in Congress-ruled Telangana and formed part of a broader national mobilisation with similar marches reported in other cities. Party workers from Telangana and other states participated enthusiastically, underscoring the saffron party’s effort to counter the opposition narrative on electoral integrity at the grassroots level. Security forces managed the large assembly without major reported disruptions.

Shah’s visit and speech reinforced the BJP’s message that cleaning electoral rolls of non-citizens and deceased or duplicate entries strengthens democracy rather than undermines it. By choosing Hyderabad for this high-profile counter-rally a day after the opposition’s Delhi show of strength, the Home Minister sought to assert the party’s presence in southern India and challenge the ruling Congress government in Telangana on governance and electoral issues simultaneously. The padayatra and public meeting concluded with calls for continued vigilance against what the BJP termed attempts to create anarchy and protect illegal elements in the voter lists.⁠

Local BJP leaders described the turnout as a strong signal of public support for transparent electoral processes. The Home Minister’s appearance is expected to boost cadre morale as the party continues its nationwide campaign under the same theme across multiple district headquarters.