Union Health Minister JP Nadda on Wednesday accused the Congress of opposing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to protect voters from outside the country whom he alleged had helped the party remain in power for years.
Addressing the 'Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao' (Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy) rally and a subsequent foot march in Madhya Pradesh, Nadda said the BJP supported the detection, deletion and deportation of outsiders, while accusing the Congress and the INDIA bloc of seeking to legitimise their presence.
"BJP's Amit Shah favours 'detect, delete and deport'. And what does Congress say? What does INDIA bloc say? They say 'normalise, recognise and formalise'," he alleged.
Accusing the opposition of facilitating the settlement of outsiders, he said, "Make Aadhaar cards for them, make ration cards for them, settle them down."
"Tell me, should we detect them or not? Should we deport them or not?" Nadda asked, urging people to "delete" the Congress and the INDIA bloc.
He also accused the Congress of undermining the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging that its criticism of the poll body was driven by its inability to secure electoral support.
"Realising that the electorate is unlikely to grant them any space in the political landscape for the next 20 to 30 years, they have resorted to blaming the Election Commission," he said.
Nadda alleged that the Congress applied different standards to the Election Commission depending on electoral outcomes, citing the party's victories in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh.
"The narrative they are trying to construct is that if the Congress wins, as they did in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh, then 'Rahul Baba' is a champion. But if they lose elections, then the Election Commission is termed as dishonest," he said.
Defending the functioning of the poll body, Nadda said that unlike in several other countries, where voters have to visit election offices to register, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) in India go door-to-door to facilitate voter registration.
He also accused Congress leaders of making derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi to divert attention from their electoral setbacks, referring to recent comments by party president Mallikarjun Kharge.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav also criticised the Congress over its opposition to the SIR, alleging that the party was raising the issue to conceal its electoral failures.
Nadda and other BJP leaders later participated in the foot march along with a large number of party workers.
(With inputs from PTI)
