Infiltration stopped in Assam, but illegal immigrants getting 'red carpet welcome' in Bengal: Amit Shah

Patna: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday claimed that while infiltration has stopped in BJP-ruled Assam, it was continuing in adjoining West Bengal because the government there was giving a "red carpet welcome" to illegal immigrants.

Addressing a media conclave in Patna, he also mocked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for having given up the diatribe on "vote theft", reiterating that Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls would weed out "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 organised by ABP News and Hindustan.

Shah, however, bristled when reminded of the opposition charge that if there were infiltrators in the country, the blame ought to be on the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, which has been in power at the Centre for 11 years.

"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," he said.

"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.

Urging the people of West Bengal to vote out CM Mamata Banerjee in next year's assembly polls, he promised to "drive out every infiltrator" from the state.

Claiming that Gandhi has forgotten the allegation of "vote chori", Shah said in the last 15 days, "on the very few occasions that he has been seen in public", he has never made the charge.

"Perhaps the people of Bihar have made him give up on the charge. He must have been under advice based on some feedback," he said.

The allusion was to the 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' that Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, took out in Bihar a couple of months ago, in protest against SIR, which, the INDIA bloc has been alleging, aimed at disenfranchising a large number of voters.

The former BJP president also dismissed the opposition charge that the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill, which provides for the removal of ministers, including the PM and CMS, if they spent 30 days or more in jail, was aimed at destabilising governments in states not ruled by the party.

"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.

Shah also raked up the "insult to the then Prime Minister Sardar Manmohan Singh" by Gandhi, who tore off a copy of an ordinance that would have prevented politicians from automatic disqualification upon conviction.

It was widely believed that the ordinance had been brought to "save" RJD president Lalu Prasad, a fodder scam convict, who had served as the railway minister in the UPA 1 government.