15 October,2026 09:39 AM IST | New Delhi | IANS
JP Nadda. File pic
BJP leader and Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, JP Nadda, on Wednesday strongly criticised Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, accusing him of lying over remarks linked to Home Minister Amit Shah and the electoral rolls.
Nadda asserted that Shah had never labelled 13.39 crore Indians as "infiltrators." In a post, he clarified the Election Commission's position on the draft electoral rolls.
He stated that the 13.39 crore names were not a final exclusion list but were marked under the absent/shifted/dead/duplicate (ASDD) category. The breakdown, according to him, included 2.80 crore deceased persons, 6.30 crore who had permanently shifted, 3.01 crore marked absent, and 1.02 crore duplicates.
Nadda dismissed attempts to attribute the BJP's and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. He noted that SIR only came into effect after 2024, while the Congress has failed to win elections in Gujarat for 31 years, has not produced a Chief Minister in Tripura for 33 years, and has not secured victory in West Bengal for 54 years.
He said the Congress's rejection by voters in states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra reflected a loss of public trust that could not be reversed through "misleading propaganda and negative politics."
Nadda urged Rahul Gandhi and the Congress to focus on earning the people's confidence rather than using SIR as a "pretext to shield infiltrators and spread confusion."
Reiterating confidence in the ruling alliance, the Union Minister declared that public trust rests with PM Modi, the BJP and the NDA. He predicted that the NDA would form the government with a massive majority in 2029, while the Congress would suffer its fourth consecutive national defeat.
"The reality of the public mandate cannot be altered by mere allegations," he said.
The remarks come amid ongoing political debate over the revision of electoral rolls and allegations surrounding the identification of voters under the ASDD categories.
Nadda's statement seeks to counter Congress claims and reaffirm the BJP's narrative on electoral integrity and electoral performance across key states.
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