With no illegal immigrants found on draft electoral rolls, SIR greatly inconvenienced people: Owaisi

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All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi. File | Photo Credit: PTI

Hyderabad parliamentarian Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday (November 4, 2026) said the claim of illegal immigrants being included in electoral rolls had caused considerable hardship, particularly to the poor, who lost at least two days’ wages completing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, even as officials said there was no evidence of illegal migrants being included in the draft electoral rolls.

Referring to the statement made by Hyderabad District Election Officer R.V. Karnan, that no foreign nationals or illegal migrants were found in the draft electoral rolls after the revision exercise, Mr. Owaisi said the finding had exposed the claims repeatedly made by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Sangh parivar leaders as false. He said that thousands of people were put through the verification process and daily wage earners were forced to forego income to furnish documents and complete enrolment formalities.

Touching upon the issue of Qadeemi Masjid located within the Krishi Bhavan complex in New Delhi, Mr. Owaisi criticised the Union government’s attempts to remove the structure as part of the Common Central Secretariat redevelopment under the Central Vista project. Earlier in the day, he had posted on X that the Centre had informed the Delhi High Court that the masjid was “impermissible and incompatible with the secular character of government property” and therefore needed to be removed.

Mr. Owaisi, who is the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president, noted that the Central Vista project itself was inaugurated with a Bhoomi Pooja (ground breaking ceremony) and remarked that “secularism is not offended by the use of one faith’s rituals for a public project, but is allergic to a masjid that has stood there even before 1912”. He said the masjid predated Krishi Bhavan and even the development of Lutyens’ Delhi.

The AIMIM chief said the masjid was part of the country’s cultural heritage and had not been included in the land acquisition process undertaken by the British for the development of New Delhi. He sought Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju’s intervention and said the government should recognise the historical and legal status of the mosque. He added that any dispute over the property could be adjudicated before the Waqf Tribunal. “The mosque was there before Delhi became the national capital. What exactly do they want to do with it now?” he asked.

Mr. Owaisi also criticised what he described as attempts to diminish the political aspirations of Muslims. Recalling remarks often made by BJP leaders about “Abdul” being confined to repairing punctures, he said Muslims would no longer be intimidated by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and would emerge as political leaders.

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