Not foreigners, Biharis will decide fate of Bihar: BJP
The criticism came the same day officials said that field agents of the Election Commission have found "a large number of people" from Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar in their house-to-house visits, made as part of the ongoing intensive review of the voter list in Bihar.
They asserted that the names of illegal migrants will not be included in the final electoral roll, to be published on September 30. A proper enquiry of such people will be conducted after August 1.
Asked for comment, BJP national spokesperson and former Union Minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain told PTI Videos, "None of those who are residents of Bihar and valid voters in the state are facing any problem with the electoral rolls' revision." But illegal immigrants and foreigners like those from Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh cannot be included in the voter list, the BJP leader said.
"Biharis will decide the fate of Bihar by casting their votes, not citizens of other countries," he added.
Another BJP national spokesperson, Shehzad Poonawalla, hit out at the Congress and the RJD, alleging that illegal immigrants from various countries were "brought and settled down" during their rule in the past.
"They were provided with all kinds of identity cards. Now they are being weeded out...It's being ensured that only Indian citizens avail the right to vote as per the Constitution," he told PTI Videos.
But Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and RJD's Tejashwi Yadav are trying to "build pressure" on the Election Commission by spreading "lies" about the ongoing SIR exercise in Bihar, Mr. Poonawalla alleged.
"They talk about saving the Constitution, but they want to provide voting rights to foreigners and intruders whom they had brought and settled down during their (parties') rule.....This is their mindset," he said, and accused the Congress and the RJD of keeping their "vote bank policy" above the Constitution.
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