Dehri-on-Sone, Sept. 18 -- Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday asked BJP workers in Bihar to counter the INDIA bloc's "false narrative" of vote theft by cautioning the people that rampant "infiltration is likely" if the opposition coalition comes to power.

The former BJP president tore into the Congress, RJD, and the Left combine while addressing a saffron party workers' conclave here, about 50 km from the state capital, weeks ahead of the assembly elections.

Shah asked the cadre to aim at "not just a simple victory but a massive two-thirds majority" in the upcoming polls to the 243-strong Bihar assembly.

Referring to the "Voter Adhikar Yatra" of Rahul Gandhi, which concluded last month, Shah alleged, "You (BJP workers) know what was its aim? It was to protect infiltrators from Bangladesh."

"Should the infiltrators have the right to vote in our country? Should they have access to all the benefits that the citizens enjoy?," asked the home minister, evoking roars of a resounding "no" from the attendees. Shah alleged: "Rahul baba and company want the infiltrators, who are their vote bank, to be given jobs meant for our youths, pucca houses and free medical treatment we provide our citizens with."

"You (BJP workers) must fan out across the state, visit every house, and tell the people that if they (INDIA bloc parties) come to power, even by fluke, every district in Bihar will be teeming with infiltrators," said Shah, widely regarded as the BJP's principal strategist.

He also termed as a "false narrative" Gandhi's allegation of vote theft, pointing out that "they (opposition parties) had taken recourse to similar tactics earlier when they had alleged that we were out to scrap reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs".

"Have the quotas for SCs, STs and OBCs been tinkered with? I can assure you that as long as there is even one BJP member in Parliament, reservations cannot be scrapped," said Shah.

The remarks may be seen in the backdrop of attempts by the BJP, traditionally seen as "a party of the upper castes", to reach out to the numerically powerful deprived castes.

Shah began his more-than-20-minute-long speech by recalling a conversation he had with a journalist earlier.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.