New Delhi: “Whenever an infiltrator – any Bangladeshi infiltrator or any Pakistani – gets their name included in the voter list, they are violating the rights of a poor person, a Dalit and the deprived people of India. To prevent this, it is absolutely necessary to remove their names from the voter list.” These were the words of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath while addressing a public rally in Gorakhpur on Wednesday (November 4).Speaking as part of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s nationwide Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao (Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy) padayatras or foot-marches, Adityanath’s remarks summed up the core of the BJP’s aggressive counter-narrative against the Opposition, which has been demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.Facing relentless attacks over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and electoral roll discrepancies, along with the demand for Kumar’s resignation, the BJP has pivoted to deploying the scare of “Bangladeshi infiltrators” and foreign-backed anarchy to defend both the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the integrity of the voter list revision.Through a series of rallies across Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has framed the Opposition’s criticism of the ECI as the posture of a “bad student blaming the teacher”. Drawing a direct analogy to a student who fails an exam due to poor preparation and subsequently accuses the evaluating teacher of dishonesty, BJP leaders singled out Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the Opposition INDIA bloc his party leads for alleging widespread discrepancies in the electoral system.Addressing the Gorakhpur rally, Chief Minister Adityanath pointed out that the Congress had itself supported and conducted voter list revisions during its tenure in government. However, he argued, now that the ECI is conducting a specialised drive to purge “Bangladeshi infiltrators, Pakistanis and deceased voters” from the rolls, the Opposition is raising a hue and cry to incite nationwide chaos.Also read: BJP and EC Said SIR Was to Remove ‘Infiltrators’. A Report Shows it Recorded Just 1,600 Foreigners“As India advances on its magnificent journey, the greatest obstacles it faces are those who incite anarchy—the very people who threaten to turn India into another Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, or France,” Adityanath warned. “They must remember that a ‘New India’ will not tolerate such lawlessness.”The BJP launched these extensive padayatras across multiple districts in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh as a direct response to the Opposition’s joint rally in Delhi on November 1, where INDIA bloc leaders demanded the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar over the alleged omission of 13 crore voters during the SIR process and other issues.Rebutting the 13-crore figure, BJP national president Nitin Nabin detailed the breakdown of the deleted entries, arguing that the revision was a routine administrative exercise to clean the rolls of Absent, Dead, Shifted and Duplicate (ADSD) entries.According to Nabin, out of the 13 crore names, 2.5 crore belonged to deceased individuals, over 6 crore had relocated elsewhere, and three crore were categorised as untraceable or absent.“When we talk about these ghuspaithiyas (infiltrators), Congress leaders start feeling anxious,” Nabin said. “Do you want to contest elections on the back of these three crore untraceable infiltrators who have no valid address or verification?”BJP UP State President Pankaj Chaudhary echoed these views, framing the yatra as an effort to expose what he termed an “anti-national conspiracy.” He directly called out Opposition figures for invoking regional regime changes to fuel domestic unrest.“Some leaders said they came for regime change. One leader even claimed they were inspired by events in Bangladesh and came here. But in a democracy, India cannot be turned into Bangladesh, Nepal, or Sri Lanka. India runs strictly through a democratic constitution,” Chaudhary said.Also read: SIR Finds Foreign Nationals Account for Less Than 0.012% of Bihar’s VotersHe maintained that SIR was not new, but a standard periodic procedure meant to sanitise electoral rolls by identifying ADSD entries. “Should the names of infiltrators remain on the voter list? Should the names of Bangladeshis be on our voter list?” he asked.Joining the offensive from Bareilly, Union Minister and senior BJP leader J.P. Nadda strongly defended the ECI, accusing the Congress and its allies of intentionally damaging public institutions. “The ECI has earned its global reputation after decades of rigorous work.However, irresponsible parties – such as the INDIA alliance and the Congress – are making a malicious attempt to undermine the public’s trust in the ECI, even while they themselves benefit from the very institution they seek to discredit,” Nadda said.He specifically highlighted urban and suburban areas, asking what had suddenly happened overnight in places like Gurugram, where large numbers of women working as domestic help reportedly disappeared without exercising their franchise.Nadda alleged that these individuals were undocumented Bangladeshi migrants who had obtained fraudulent Aadhaar cards in Murshidabad, West Bengal, before moving to work in affluent households and live in informal settlements across Delhi and Gurugram. “When these Bangladeshi infiltrators realised that the Election Commission of India would no longer allow illegal entries on the electoral rolls, they fled,” Nadda claimed. “When Booth Level Officers (BLOs) visited their recorded addresses, they were naturally found absent.”Nadda also turned the tables on the Congress regarding the independence of the ECI, questioning the historical politicisation of the election body under previous regimes. He pointed out that several Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners appointed under Congress rule were later rewarded with lucrative political and administrative postings.“Today, these very parties are pointing fingers at CEC Gyanesh Kumar, even though the Opposition was part of the selection process,” Nadda remarked.In Prayagraj, UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya launched a scathing attack on the Opposition, accusing them of adopting the language of hostile nations by calling for unconstitutional “regime” changes and alleging that Rahul Gandhi was acting as a “foreign toolkit.”Also read: ‘Detect, Delete, Deport Policy’ Says Shah in Lok Sabha, Raises ‘Illegal Immigrant’ Bogey to Defend SIR“They want a takhta palat (overthrow) of Modiji. Will the people of India ever accept this?” Maurya asked the crowd, projecting the BJP as the sole defender of the Constitution and democratic stability. Rebuffing allegations of electoral fraud, Maurya declared, “Vote chori nahi hua hai. Desh ki janta ne choro ko vote dena bandh kar diya hai (Votes have not been stolen; the people of this country have simply stopped voting for thieves).”Maurya emphasised the breakdown of the deleted 13 crore voters, noting that nearly 48% had shifted elsewhere, 23% were absent during physical surveys, 21% were deceased and 7.6% represented duplicate entries. “Justice has been done to real, legitimate voters,” he insisted.In Gorakhpur, UP Cabinet Minister and BJP ally Sanjay Nishad characterised the Opposition’s campaign as a coordinated plot orchestrated by foreign forces to destabilise the nation. He claimed that the Opposition was attempting to engulf India in the same turmoil that destabilised neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, where “unconstitutional” means were used to alter regimes.BJP Gorakhpur MP Ravi Kishan said the yatra was aimed at those traitors – the ‘tukde-tukde gang’ – who want to see riots erupt in India once again, with bombs exploding everywhere, including in every temple.Kirti Vardhan Singh, Union minister, at a recent event in Gonda, justified SIR, saying that if “infiltrators” were not removed it would not just result in the loss of people’s resources but eventually, it will pose a major security threat to the entire country.“Why are we bringing SIR today? Because there are infiltrators – numbering in the hundreds of thousands – who have entered from Bangladesh and other directions. They are encroaching upon your rights; they are consuming the rations meant for the poor families of our nation and taking away funds,” said Singh.Omar Rashid is an independent journalist. For our full coverage on the SIR and the issues it has brought to citizens, click here.