AAP's Sanjay Singh alleges Centre 'relaxed' border security norms to help Adani set up energy park
New Delhi (PTI): Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh on Wednesday alleged that the Centre "relaxed" border security norms to help Adani set up an energy park at the Pakistan border in Gujarat.
During discussion on the Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025 in the Rajya Sabha, Singh said that the Centre controls 50 kilometres of international border across states and still blames state governments for illegal immigrant entry from those borders.
He alleged that the government has "played" with the security of the country by "relaxing" security norms for setting up an energy park in Gujarat at the Pakistan border to benefit a "friend".
"To benefit Adani you have relaxed border security rules. How shameful it is! You compromise on the nation's security for a friend," Singh said.
He questioned the Border Security Force's (BSF) failure to check entry of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh border.
"50 km security is with the BSF in Bengal… You are unable to stop for 50 km. You are not able to speak about your failure. The responsibility of the border in Assam, Tripura, Bengal is with you and you have messed up with its security. You are blaming the state government for your fault," Singh said.
Singh also raised the issue of fugitives Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Nitin Sandesara and Vijay Mallya.
"Dacoits of India, Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi after looting Rs 20,000 crore are sitting outside the country. They are teasing this nation. Why have you not been able to catch those dacoits? Why didn't you freeze their passport?" Singh said.
He alleged that the ruling party members helped Lalit Modi escape from the country.
He said Vijay Mallya is "teasing" the government from overseas after looting Rs 9000 crore of Indian banks and the common man.
Minister of State Nityanand Rai wanted to intervene in the speech but Singh refused to yield. Singh said that TV channels ran news that Mallya would come to India, stay in Tihar barrack and he would be punished.
"They were also talking about bringing Vijay Mallya back. After Rs 9,000 crore loot, Vijay Mallya is teasing from overseas. Nitin Sandesara looted Rs 6,000 crore of India and is teasing you from overseas. I am a respected member of this House. I am a member of the country's highest House but with great pain and agony, I am sharing with you that these cheaters who have looted thousands of crores of India are being treated with luxury in foreign countries and my passport is seized," Singh said.
He said that if the government has a clear intent then it should seize passports of everyone who owes more than Rs 50 crore, so that no one is able to escape from India.
He asked the government to share the number of Bangladeshi illegal immigrants that have been deported from the country.
"You have had a government in the state for the last 11 years, a government in the Centre for the last 11 years and you are unable to tell the number of Bangladeshi intruders that you have chased them out of India...You do only politics. The Bengal election is coming up, politics have started. The Bihar election is coming up, politics have started. Move beyond this," Singh said.
CPI(M)'s V Sivadasan said that giving immigration officers to make final decisions on entry of foreigners means there will be no appeal and therefore it needs to be changed.
“People should have the right to be heard..This government had an infamous history of sending back academics and activists from foreign countries. They were given all permissions yet they were sent back from the airport in an extremely humiliating manner. They were speaking against the politics of hatred which the ruling classes are using to divide the people,” Sivadasan said.
He said that the Bill states any foreigner causing threat to India’s integrity will be denied entry into the country, however, there is a lack of clarity on the threat which the Bill refers to.
BJP member Ajeet Madhavrao Gopchade alleged that illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya immigrants are in thousands. He alleged that illegal immigrants do "bogus voting" and are enjoying the benefits of India’s hospitals, schools, ration shops and government schemes for free.
YSR Congress Party's S Niranjan Reddy said that the Bill has stringent provision to curb mischief-mongers which are about 1-2 per cent and those provisions should not create inconvenience for the rest of 98 per cent.
He said that certain countries with whom India shares good relations can be exempted from some of the provisions in the Bill.
BJP members Shmabhu Sharan and Mahendra Bhatt, TDP member Masthan Rao Yadav Beedha and UPP (L) member Rwngwra Narzary also participated in the discussion.
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'Last rites' of INDIA bloc: BJP on Cong-DMK fallout in Tamil Nadu
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Wednesday took a swipe at the Congress for extending support to Vijay's TVK in forming the government in Tamil Nadu and breaking away from its long term ally DMK, saying the party has a history of "betraying" its allies.
The saffron party also attacked the opposition INDIA bloc, claiming the alliance is "falling apart like a pack of cards" and lacks any common ideology or vision.
The Tamil Nadu Congress has decided to support TVK leader Vijay in forming a secular government in the state, sources said.
The decision to support the TVK was taken at an urgent meeting of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of Tamil Nadu Congress late on Tuesday night.
Reacting to the development, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed the INDIA alliance had effectively come to an end after the declaration of assembly election results on May 4.
"There is nobody whom the Congress has not deceived. Imagine what they will do to the Samajwadi Party if they have done this to the DMK," he wrote in a post on X.
Calling it the "last rites" of the INDIA bloc, Poonawalla, in a video post, said, "It has become a Bharat free of the DMK, TMC and the Left, and now Congress has dumped the DMK for the TVK."
The BJP spokesperson alleged that the opposition bloc was formed solely out of political compulsions and personal ambitions.
"The INDI alliance never had any mission or vision. It was only about ambition for position, corruption, commission and obsession against Modi ji that they came together. But now it is all falling apart like a pack of cards," he said.
Questioning the unity of the opposition parties, Poonawalla said the alliance was absent in several states during the election.
"Where was the INDI alliance in Bengal, in Kerala, in Gujarat, in Punjab, in Delhi, in Haryana, in Karnataka? There is no INDI alliance," he said.
The DMK on Wednesday described the Congress move to extend support to TVK as a "backstab" by its long-time national ally.
Speaking to PTI videos, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Anadurai said, "The Congress party has decided to ally with the TVK, pledging their support to the party. I think they have backstabbed... They have backstabbed the people of Tamil Nadu. They've backstabbed the mandate given by the people of Tamil Nadu."
He said that the decision came even before the electoral process had fully concluded.
"Even before the ink on the returning officer's signature on the victory certificate dried up, they've chosen to go ahead with an alliance," he said.
Vijay's TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, falling short of the halfway mark. He needs the support of 10 MLAs to form a government with a simple majority. The results were declared only on Monday.
The Congress has won five seats, while the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) has bagged four seats. The CPI and CPI-M have two seats each. The outgoing ruling party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has won 59 seats while the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has won 47 seats.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won only one seat, and so have the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and the Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam (AMMK), while the VCK has won two seats.
The Congress had fought the assembly polls in a pre-poll alliance with the DMK, while the BJP had a tie-up with the AIADMK.
