Kolkata, Oct. 29 -- Mamata All India Trinamool Congress (MAITC) MP Mahua Moitra criticised the BJP's narrative on illegal immigration after a report in an English daily revealed that around 1,600 suspected foreign nationals had been identified on electoral rolls across six states, covering a total electorate of 9.86 crore.
Reacting to the findings, Moitra said: "Only 1600 foreigners found among 9.86 crore voters across 6 states. This is the reality of @AmitShah's Ghoospetia narrative repeated ad nauseum by every BJP illiterate."
The report stated that the Election Commission of India (ECI) had not asked states to collect separate data on suspected foreign nationals during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Karnataka identified 716 foreign nationals for removal, while Goa reported 419 suspected foreign passport holders. Kerala detected around 500 people holding foreign citizenship who remained on the electoral rolls. Jharkhand identified three foreign nationals, while Meghalaya found two men of Nepalese origin. Mizoram reported no such cases.
The report also highlighted gaps in data collection, with several states saying they had not maintained separate records of suspected foreign nationals. Odisha reported detecting such cases but did not provide a figure.
A senior ECI official said the Commission had neither requested the data separately nor maintained consolidated state-wise figures.
The findings come against the backdrop of the ECI's stated rationale for the SIR exercise, which included removing the names of foreign illegal immigrants from electoral rolls.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.