Assam's anti-CAA committee opposes proposed SIR of electoral rolls in state

Guwahati: The Coordination Committee Against Citizenship Amendment Act, Assam has opposed the proposed special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the State.

President of the Committee Dr Hiren Gohain and its chief coordinator Deben Tamuli alleged around 65 lakh people are affected in Bihar due to the ongoing exercise.

The statement added that SIR is an attempt to deprive poor people who migrate to other states in search of livelihood. Due to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise from 2009 to 2019 people in Assam had to face a lot of difficulty in collecting different documents to include their name in the NRC list. But later, the government rejected the list and introduced the CAA”.


The committee added, “We believe a special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Assam will deprive the Muslim people, whose names were included in the NRC, from their voting rights and will grant voter rights to the Hindu Bangladeshi people who are not eligible under the CAA.”

Preparation for SIR in Assam gathers momentum. Booth level officers (BLO) are appointed, and training is conducted. Assam Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anurag Goel has issued instructions to all District Election Officers (DEOs) to ensure immediate preparedness.

In a directive dated August 4, the CEO stressed that all Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), Assistant EROs (AEROs), and Booth Level Officers (BLOs) must be in position before the SIR schedule is declared. Additional BLOs for newly created polling stations post-rationalisation should be identified in advance, ready for appointment once ECI approval is secured.

The Assam Congress has started training of around 29,000 Booth Level Agents.

Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi on Wednesday announced a two-week-long campaign titled "Vote Chore, Gaddi Chore" aimed at combating voter fraud in the state. The Congress leader said the party has started training of around 29,000 Booth Level Agents.

The campaign will begin Thursday with statewide candlelight marches.

He said that from August 24 to 30, party representatives and agents from all 28,800 polling booths in Assam will be invited to various locations to receive exclusive training on preventing voter theft, fraud, and misrepresentation.

"We have started a training programme for the BLAs. We concluded the first round of training two days ago. By August-end, we will hold a week-long training programme in 35 districts. In the first module, we are briefing them on how voter list manipulation has been undertaken in Maharashtra and in Karnataka. We will share the evidence that Rahul Gandhi's team has provided," Gogoi said.

Gogoi added that the booth-level training is aimed to equip booth-level workers with the skills needed to safeguard the electoral process. The campaign ends on August 31 with a mega workers' meet themed "Vote Chore, Gaddi Chore - Choki Erok" in Dibrugarh.

Gogoi said that the Congress is also preparing its legal team to help BLAs to file claims and objections at a later stage.