A Centrist lens on ‘illegal immigration’

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which omitted nearly 6.5 crore electors from draft rolls of nine States and three Union Territories, has triggered widespread procedural disputes. The Opposition appears determined to seize this moment to move forward with its “vote chori” campaign on which its politics has exhaustively relied. #### The Opposition’s mistake But it will be naive to mistake the people’s annoyance for anger. Despite the Election Commission of India’s low credibility, and discontent over its shoddy handling of the SIR, few buy the Opposition’s account, which depicts elections as fraudulently manufactured to suit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the SIR as a tool to perfect that machination. The overwhelming sense is that a voter list revision is necessary to remove dead, shifted, and duplicate voters. The approval for the SIR also draws from mobilisation of emotion over the vexing question of ‘illegal immigrants’, with verifiable incidents, tendentious assertions, and inflammatory rhetoric creating a tangle that threatens to dominate Indian politics, particularly electoral possibilities in the northern States. When Home Minister Amit Shah said recently in poll-bound West Bengal that “even Kolkata is facing a threat from infiltrators,” it echoed the telling apprehensions of a sizeable section of Bengalis. The Opposition is loath to recognise the potency of the issue, often deploying lacerating wit to evade the question. Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra’s jibe — “who wants to come to India?” — is an example. Editorial | Crossing a line: On drive against undocumented immigrants This behavioural pattern tinged with sourness — either you agree with me, or you are a bigot — has been counterproductive for liberal parties the world over. It was the European Union’s uncritical support for wide-open borders that precipitated the steady trickle of voters of the centre-left to populist, anti-immigration parties, more notably in Germany, Italy, Hungary and Poland. The Opposition’s denial of undocumented immigrants in the face of evidence alienates people. Last November, several hundred Bangladeshi nationals were intercepted by Border Security Force personnel at the Hakimpur check post in West Bengal, while allegedly attempting to return to Bangladesh. In December, 19 Bangladeshis were among the 511 people arrested in Uttarakhand under Operation Kalnemi. ## Related Stories • Sunali Khatun: Standing on humanitarian ground Sunali Khatun: Standing on humanitarian ground • NDA government will ‘detect, delete and deport illegal immigrants’, Amit Shah tells Lok Sabha NDA government will ‘detect, delete and deport illegal immigrants’, Amit Shah tells Lok Sabha • Bangladeshi nationals leave India via Hakimpur border checkpost amid rising SIR fears Bangladeshi nationals leave India via Hakimpur border checkpost amid rising SIR fears • Don’t need treaty with Dhaka to push back ‘illegal immigrants’, says Himanta Don’t need treaty with Dhaka to push back ‘illegal immigrants’, says Himanta • India flags ‘denial and delay’ by Bangladesh in accepting undocumented migrants India flags ‘denial and delay’ by Bangladesh in accepting undocumented migrants • Undocumented migrants leaving via eastern border tripled in 2025 compared to 2024, government data show Undocumented migrants leaving via eastern border tripled in 2025 compared to 2024, government data show The Opposition sees acting on undocumented immigrants as corrosive to universal human rights. But national security concerns are not corrosive; fulminations aimed at hijacking them are. Opposition leaders show proclivity to confuse illegal immigration with immigration, boxing everyone who talks about border security as foot-soldiers of the Right tasked with manufacturing xenophobia. While covering the 2024 U.S. presidential election, I found that in the battleground States, this boxing triggered negative sentiment. The anger was more palpable among immigrants who came to the U.S. legally. Donald Trump’s share of Hispanic votes climbed from 32% in 2020 to 46% in 2024. The more the Opposition chastises people who talk about border security, the easier it gets for right wing provocateurs to depict immigration as chaotic, and build consensus for violent crackdown. A June 2025 report by the European Policy Centre emphasised that conspiracy theories, such as those surrounding population replacement, find acceptance as they provide “a sense of control” and “understanding” for individuals who otherwise felt powerless and unheard. A reason why the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi was able to monopolise nationalism was because in the decade preceding 2014, the Congress nearly jettisoned expositions of national pride — at least the animating kind invoking India’s spiritual traditions and heritage — as though they were impediments to secularism. That misjudged fear induces its studied silence on the immigration issue. #### A nuanced conversation In June 2025, Parliament passed the Immigration and Foreigners Bill, to regulate the entry and stay of foreigners in a tech-driven, time-bound manner; the Opposition staged a walkout. A prudent course would have been to build a more nuanced conversation on immigration, reflecting its complexity and multifaceted nature, delineating both the challenges and the benefits it brings along. It must focus on legal work authorisations, spending versus contributions, and negotiations with allied countries for easing refugee intakes, as Italy’s Georgia Meloni attempted with Albania. In Europe, the Left drastically reoriented its politics to sync with public attitudes on immigration. In Denmark, Social Democrats led by Mette Frederiksen passed a law allowing asylum claims to be processed and refugees to be resettled in partner countries such as Rwanda. This ebbed the appeal of the anti-migration Danish People’s Party; it plummeted to one seat in the 2024 European Parliament election. The Congress is mistaken that whatever weighs heavily on the minds of its think tankers weighs on the minds of the public. Its preoccupation with “saving” Indian democracy before every election bears that out. It misses the point that the people are divided on where the threat to democracy comes from. People have less anxiety over weakening institutions and “vote chori” and more over the alleged immigrant influx. Centrist politics must reconstruct itself. An aptitude to reckon with people’s emotive issues and give a positive spin to them is imperative to that effort. Anando Bhakto covers national politics, Kashmir and elections in the Hindi heartland Published - January 20, 2026 12:52 am IST ### Related Topics immigration / illegal immigrants / migration / Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls