EC speeds up SIR prep in in Assam, BLO training soon

Guwahati: Preparation for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Assam is gathering momentum with the next round of training of booth-level officers (BLO) expected to take place within a week. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while attacking Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, said that in some places even the names of dead persons and married women were there in the voters' list and SIR would help weed out such voters. Assam is going to assembly polls early next year.

"In Assam's char areas (riverine) and some other places even dead people's names are there in the voters' list in large numbers. They do not delete it. Even married daughters' names are there. The voting percentage in these areas is around 100%," Sarma told media persons on Monday.

"Once SIR comes and the voters' list is linked with Aadhaar, this problem will be solved. Rahul Gandhi opposes SIR; what he wants is not clear. He can go to the Election Commission and seek rectification of the voters' list linking the voters' name with Aadhaar. He is not interested in this; he has picked up some names and is busy showing them. If the voters' list is wrong, how did Congress win Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana assembly polls? If your party wins it is alright. All these days, they were blaming EVM, now that EVM bullets are not firing, they have taken to SIR," he said.


A BLO, who did not want to be named, told ET, "There was a directive from the deputy commissioner's office that the next round of training on preparation of SIR will take place within a week in some areas. We are expecting a written communication in the next couple of days."

Newly-appointed BLOs have undergone a couple of rounds of training. Sources in the election offices told ET, "Last month, BLOs were appointed largely drawn from the teaching community. As it was summer vacation, training sessions were rolled out for BLOs on the electoral roll revision. Registration of BLOs on the App is underway." A BLO told ET, "We are asked to work for the revision after school hours. In the training session, there were talks of SIR and BLO forms. In case of new voters, we are made aware of the documents we should seek like birth certificate, photograph, parent's voters identity card and address proof. For deletion, we were suggested to look for death certificates." Assam Chief Electoral Officer Anurag Goel has issued instructions to all district election officers to ensure immediate preparedness.