NEW DELHI — Launching a fierce attack on Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the Congress’ Uttar Pradesh President Ajay Rai on Saturday said the BJP government is using the issue of infiltration as a divisive political tool instead of taking responsibility for rising tensions and internal unrest.
“If things are worsening, it reflects your failure. You are the responsible minister, and Prime Minister Modi. So, if the situation is deteriorating, who is accountable? You are,” Ajay Rai said in response to Home Minister Shah’s recent remarks on infiltration.
“Why are you misleading the public? Because of you, the unrest is increasing. It seems deliberate, aimed at spreading propaganda, dividing people between Hindus and Muslims, and creating chaos across the country,” he stated.
Ajay Rai’s comments come after Home Minister Shah, while addressing the Narendra Mohan Memorial Lecture in New Delhi, claimed that infiltration into India posed a threat to democracy and accused Opposition parties of treating infiltrators as a vote bank.
“Infiltration is not a political issue but a national issue,” Home Minister Shah had said. “Why doesn’t infiltration happen along Gujarat and Rajasthan borders?”
His remarks were made during a lecture titled ‘Infiltration, Demographic Change, and Democracy.’
The Congress party, however, has strongly pushed back. Congress leader Rashid Alvi accused Home Minister Shah of misrepresenting facts.
“The difference between the Muslim and Hindu population is barely one or two per cent. Amit Shah should clarify how many illegal entrants there are. The government has no concrete figures, just empty claims.”
Congress spokesperson Surendra Rajput also lambasted Home Minister Shah, saying, “You rank 140th in per capita income. A whopping 800 million people in India survive on five kilos of grain. Do you think people are coming here for that? Stop with the slogans and explain why our borders are still porous after 11 years of you being in power. The BJP only spreads Hindu-Muslim division for votes.” — IANS
