Amit Shah and CRPF personnel during the felicitation ceremony at the 87th CRPF Raising Day Parade, in Guwahati on Saturday. (ANI Photo) GUWAHATI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday accused the opposition of turning infiltrators into a vote bank and said if BJP returns to power in Assam in the upcoming assembly elections, infiltrators will be removed from the electoral rolls and deported from the country within five years.He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi possesses the “courage, determination, and firm resolve to free the country from infiltrators”.“The support of the state govt is essential to remove infiltrators, which would never be possible if the opposition party comes to power,” he said.He further said the Election Commission is conducting the Summary Revision (SIR) to help identify infiltrators, but “the Leader of the Opposition has launched an agitation against it.” Shah said, “The country will certainly be freed from infiltrators. Under our govt, the country is becoming free from Naxalism, and in the same way, Assam and the entire nation will also become free from infiltrators.”Shah was speaking at the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Assam Police 10th Battalion headquarters at Kachutoli near the city on the land that was freed from encroachers in 2024.“During the rule of the opposition party’s govt, infiltrators had encroached upon 174 bighas of land, which has now been freed from their possession by the present chief minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, and today’s programme is being held on that very land,” he said.“At the very place from where security challenges had once emerged, the 10th Battalion of the Assam Police — which will eliminate those challenges — is now being established,” he said.He added that the land occupied by infiltrators had posed a major threat to Guwahati, Assam, and the entire country and the “presence of these infiltrators was a serious challenge to the development of Assam.”Shah said,“During the tenure of the previous govt, infiltrators had entered the region and pushed Assam’s demographic situation to a dangerous level.The opposition party bears direct responsibility for several areas of Assam — such as Dhubri, Barpeta, Morigaon, Darrang, Bongaigaon, and Nagaon — becoming infiltrator-dominated.”He highlighted that chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has freed nearly 1.45 lakh bighas of land from infiltrators and provided govt jobs to more than 1.4 lakh people in Assam without corruption and issued a firm pledge, “If our govt is formed again in the next five years, we will identify and deport every infiltrator from the country.”Shah alleged that infiltrators had become a vote bank for the opposition and declared, “Once our party’s govt is formed, within the next five years we will remove infiltrators not only from the electoral rolls but also from the country.”Accusing the opposition of endangering Assam’s identity, Shah said, “By allowing infiltrators to enter, the opposition party handed over Assam’s fertile land to them, which harmed the identity of the Assamese community and also put its cultural heritage at risk.”About the AuthorPrabin KalitaPrabin Kalita is a journalist at The Times of India and is currently the Chief of Bureau (northeast). He has been reporting in mainstream Indian national media since 2001. He has been a field journalist reporting gamut of issues from India’s northeastern region and major developments in neighbouring countries like Myanmar, China, Bhutan and Bangladesh concerning India and northeastern region. He has been covering insurgency—internal and cross-border, politics, natural calamities, environment etc. He is a post-graduate in Geological Sciences from Gauhati University.Read MoreEnd of ArticleFollow Us On Social MediaVideosTrump Raises Worldwide Tariffs From 10% To 15% A Day After Supreme Court Ruling’We Will Continue To Fight’: Brazil President Lula Backs India’s UN Security Council Reform Push‘Swayed By Foreign Interests’: Trump Slams SCOTUS; Attacks US Firms, Attorneys With India TiesExplained: How US tariffs on India evolved amid Supreme Court ruling and trade disputes’Studying Developments For Their Implications’: India After US Top Court’s Order On Trump TariffsIndia, Brazil Sign Rare Earths Deal; Modi Calls It ‘Major Step’ Towards Supply Chain ResilienceBrazil President Lula Calls For Stronger Global South With India To Prevent A New Cold War DividePM Modi Sets 20 Billion Dollar Trade Target As India And Brazil Call Ties A Win Win PartnershipAI Summit Protest By Youth Congress May Be Linked To Nepal Gen Z Conspiracy Plot: Delhi PoliceI To The Power Of AI: Youngest Keynote Speaker Ranvir Sachdeva Wows India AI Summit With Bold Vision123PhotostoriesFrom recalling their dating days to Gautami’s divorce phase and Ram calling himself an absent father; Ram Kapoor and Gautami Kapoor get candid about marriage and kidsSunday binge watch: These Hulu dramas are a must tryFrom ‘Emily in Paris’ to ‘Made in Heaven’: 5 times OTT dramas redefined fashionZodiac signs that may face relationship challenges in 20268 Indian tea-time snacks you can air fryer instead of deep fry6 tandoori-style dishes made easily in an air fryer7 iconic paneer starters for guests and instant cravingsFrom decorating the house to preparing Iftaar: Dipika Kakar and Shoaib Ibrahim share their Ramadan preparationsBengaluru to Goa by Vande Bharat in just over 12 hours? What we know’e200x’: Chennai startup to develop first electric air taxi123Hot PicksIndia-US trade dealGold rate todayDelhi traffic advisoryArjun’s wedding ceremonyIncome Tax CalculatorPublic holidays February 2026Bank Holidays februaryTop TrendingEllyse PerryAlysa Liu familyTommaso GiacomelMens Hockey OlympicsTravis Kelce MansionsSidney Crosby and Kathy Leutner Net WorthDillon GabrielNathan MacKinnonCade CunninghamMontreal Canadiens
GUWAHATI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday accused the opposition of turning infiltrators into a vote bank and said if BJP returns to power in Assam in the upcoming assembly elections, infiltrators will be removed from the electoral rolls and deported from the country within five years.He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi possesses the “courage, determination, and firm resolve to free the country from infiltrators”.“The support of the state govt is essential to remove infiltrators, which would never be possible if the opposition party comes to power,” he said.He further said the Election Commission is conducting the Summary Revision (SIR) to help identify infiltrators, but “the Leader of the Opposition has launched an agitation against it.” Shah said, “The country will certainly be freed from infiltrators. Under our govt, the country is becoming free from Naxalism, and in the same way, Assam and the entire nation will also become free from infiltrators.”Shah was speaking at the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Assam Police 10th Battalion headquarters at Kachutoli near the city on the land that was freed from encroachers in 2024.“During the rule of the opposition party’s govt, infiltrators had encroached upon 174 bighas of land, which has now been freed from their possession by the present chief minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, and today’s programme is being held on that very land,” he said.“At the very place from where security challenges had once emerged, the 10th Battalion of the Assam Police — which will eliminate those challenges — is now being established,” he said.He added that the land occupied by infiltrators had posed a major threat to Guwahati, Assam, and the entire country and the “presence of these infiltrators was a serious challenge to the development of Assam.”Shah said,“During the tenure of the previous govt, infiltrators had entered the region and pushed Assam’s demographic situation to a dangerous level.The opposition party bears direct responsibility for several areas of Assam — such as Dhubri, Barpeta, Morigaon, Darrang, Bongaigaon, and Nagaon — becoming infiltrator-dominated.”He highlighted that chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has freed nearly 1.45 lakh bighas of land from infiltrators and provided govt jobs to more than 1.4 lakh people in Assam without corruption and issued a firm pledge, “If our govt is formed again in the next five years, we will identify and deport every infiltrator from the country.”Shah alleged that infiltrators had become a vote bank for the opposition and declared, “Once our party’s govt is formed, within the next five years we will remove infiltrators not only from the electoral rolls but also from the country.”Accusing the opposition of endangering Assam’s identity, Shah said, “By allowing infiltrators to enter, the opposition party handed over Assam’s fertile land to them, which harmed the identity of the Assamese community and also put its cultural heritage at risk.”
