AMIT SHAH LEADS ONE-KILOMETRE BJP MARCH IN HYDERABAD, ACCUSES CONGRESS OF SHIELDING INFILTRATORS
November 3, 2026
HYDERABAD, NOVEMBER 3: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday led a nearly one-kilometre procession through the streets of Hyderabad, launching a fresh political counter-offensive against the Congress and the Opposition INDIA bloc over their allegations of electoral irregularities and the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists.
Carrying the national flag, Shah led the BJP's “Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy” march from Nizam College to M.J. Market through busy streets in Telangana's capital. The procession came a day after the INDIA bloc organised a major rally at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan, where Opposition leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah over the “vote chori” allegations.
Addressing BJP leaders and workers at M.J. Market, Shah accused the Congress of attempting to protect illegal immigrants by opposing the SIR exercise. Describing the INDIA bloc's Delhi gathering as a rally to protect infiltrators rather than voters, he alleged that the Congress wanted to prevent the removal of Bangladeshi infiltrators from electoral rolls.
Shah declared that the BJP would remove alleged infiltrators from voter lists and also seek their deportation from the country. He specifically challenged Rahul Gandhi and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy over their opposition to the exercise.
Defending the SIR process, Shah rejected the Opposition's allegation that approximately 13 crore names had been deleted from electoral rolls. He presented his own breakdown, claiming that more than six crore voters had shifted residence, over two crore were deceased, one crore were duplicate entries and nearly three crore were alleged infiltrators.
The Home Minister also challenged the Congress to participate in a debate on the SIR exercise during a special session of Parliament. He questioned the Opposition's allegations of electronic voting machine manipulation, pointing to the Congress's electoral victories in Telangana and Kerala and its alliance partner TVK's victory in Tamil Nadu.
Shah further attacked Rahul Gandhi over his political activities and foreign visits, accusing him of failing to devote sufficient attention to strengthening the Congress organisation.
The BJP's counter-campaign was not confined to Hyderabad. Party president Nitin Nabin led a similar procession in Kolkata on Monday, while Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was scheduled to lead another march in Lucknow alongside Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday.
The coordinated demonstrations indicate the BJP's decision to intensify its political response to the INDIA bloc's campaign against alleged electoral irregularities and the SIR process.
