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3 min readDehradunMar 7, 2026 09:24 PM IST
Union Home Minister Amit Shah addresses the 'Jan-Jan Ki Sarkar, 4 Saal Bemisaal' programme organised on the occasion of the completion of four years of the state government, in Haridwar on Saturday. (ANI Photo)
Stating that infiltrators from Kedarnath to Kanyakumari will be driven out, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday praised Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami for clearing encroachments from 10,000 acres of government land in the state.
“The government is committed to removing every infiltrator from the country,” he said, marking four years of the BJP government with Dhami at the helm. Shah commended Dhami for implementing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state, saying that it would help prevent unnatural demographic changes.
Referring to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, he said that anyone who is not an Indian citizen should have their name removed from the voter list, adding that clean voter lists are essential for protecting democracy. The Union Home Minister addressed a rally in Haridwar under the ‘Jan Jan Ki Sarkar, Char Saal Bemisaal’ programme.
Referring to the formation of the state, Shah said that the youth of Uttarakhand had to take to the streets to protect their identity, culture, and rights, and had to face incidents of violence such as the Rampur Tiraha firing. “When the BJP came to power at the Centre, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee decided to create the states of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, and today all three states are progressing rapidly on the path of development. Atal ji created Uttarakhand, and Modi ji will now shape and develop it,” he said.
Congratulating refugees who received Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Shah said that Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and Jain refugees coming from Pakistan and Afghanistan have as much right to this country as Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. “Due to the politics of appeasement in the past, they had been deprived of Indian citizenship. These refugees came to India to protect their faith and the honour of their families. Despite opposition, the government would remain firm in its decision to grant them citizenship,” Shah said.
The Home Minister said that the Centre’s assistance to Uttarakhand has increased since the BJP came to power. Between 2004 and 2014, Uttarakhand received Rs 54,000 crore from the Centre, whereas since then it has received Rs 1.87 lakh crore, he said.
Dhami said that under the leadership of Modi and the guidance of Shah, the people of Uttarakhand in 2022 broke all political myths and gave the government another term with a strong mandate. “Under Shah’s leadership, terrorism and Naxalism have been effectively curbed in the country, and areas once marked by unrest and fear are now moving towards development,” he said.
Aiswarya Raj is a Senior Correspondent for The Indian Express, covering Uttarakhand. She brings sound journalistic experience to her role, having started her career at the organisation as a sub-editor with the Delhi city team. She subsequently developed her reporting expertise by covering Gurugram and its neighbouring districts before transitioning to her current role as a resident correspondent in Dehradun. She is an alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ) and the University of Kerala. She has reported on the state politics, governance, environment and wildlife, and gender. Aiswarya has undertaken investigations using the Right to Information Act on law enforcement, public policy and procurement rules in Uttarakhand. She has also attempted narrative journalism on socio-economic matters affecting local communities. This specific, sustained focus on critical regional news provides the necessary foundation for high trustworthiness and authoritativeness on topics concerning Uttarakhand. ... Read More
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