Ahmedabad, May 28 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and opposition parties of running a nationwide campaign against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process undertaken by the Election Commission, while asserting that the exercise had been upheld as constitutionally valid.

Addressing a gathering during the inauguration of new hostel facilities at Mata Umiya Dham in Ahmedabad, Shah said opposition parties had approached the Supreme Court and alleged “vote theft” after the Election Commission initiated the SIR process.

“When the SIR was started by the Election Commission, Rahul Gandhi and his allied parties launched a campaign across the country alleging vote theft. They went to the Supreme Court and filed several cases,” Shah said.

He claimed that the electorate in West Bengal had supported the exercise and opposed infiltration into the country. “In the Bengal elections, the people of Bengal showed that they stand with the SIR and that infiltration should not happen in the country,” he said.

Shah further stated that a recent court verdict had upheld the process. “Just the other day, the complete verdict came, and it declared that the SIR is entirely constitutionally valid,” he said.

The Union Home Minister linked the issue to citizenship and voting rights, saying the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government had established that only Indian citizens should have the right to determine the country’s future.

“The Narendra Modi government of the Bharatiya Janata Party has established that the right to decide the future of this country should belong only to the citizens of this country and not to infiltrators who have entered the country,” Shah said.

During his speech, Shah also referred to infiltration in West Bengal and said that changes had occurred following political developments in the state.

“Earlier, five to 10 thousand infiltrators used to enter every day, whereas now five to 10 thousand have started going back every day,” he said.

He added that the Union Home Ministry had formed a Demographic Change Commission, which, according to him, would study “unnatural demographic changes”, investigate their causes, and explore legal measures to address them.

The event was organised to inaugurate the J.S. Patel Hostel and the Tapasvi Kumar Arvind Patel Girls’ Hostel at Mata Umiya Dham.

Shah attended the programme along with Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendrabhai Patel, several BJP leaders, ministers, and representatives of the Umiya Mata Sansthan.

The new hostel facilities, built at a reported combined cost exceeding Rs 170 crore, are expected to accommodate around 1,600 students in Ahmedabad.

–IANS

mys/dan