Assam: Opposition alleges voter list manipulation during SR exercise; CM Sarma denies claims

Guwahati: Opposition parties in Assam are alleging manipulation of voter lists during the ongoing special revision (SR) exercise in Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that not a single genuine Indian citizen is served with notices.

Sarma while talking to media persons said, “There is no controversy pertaining to SR, not a single Hindu people of Assamese Muslims are served with notice under the ongoing SR. We must keep on giving notices to Miyas otherwise they will get embolden.”

He added, “I have said that whether I succeed or not I will keep on tormenting Miyas. There is nothing to hide. I am tormenting them. These people must understand that whenever possible Assamese people are stopping them.”


Sarma said, “If not stopped these people will walk over. That’s why notices will keep on going through SR, border police and eviction. We will keep on creating such troubles for them. What is legally available to us we will keep on using it against these people. If we do not do this these people will think that they have made Assamese people go on slumber and now they can just suppress Assamese people.”

He said, “We cannot with someone who wants to finish the race, we have to protect the race. Once they receive SR notice they have to come to offices and this has meant trouble for these people.”

Bengali speaking Muslims are often referred as Miya Muslims. Muslims comprise 34% of the 3.12 crore population of Assam, of which 4% are indigenous Assamese Muslims and the remaining mostly Bengali-speaking Muslims.

Sarma confirmed that several former leaders of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), including its former general secretary Shankarjyoti Baruah, are set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Speaking on the sidelines of a seed-capital distribution programme at Barkhetri, Nalbari, the Chief Minister issued a clear message that late entrants should not expect election tickets immediately.

While the Congress claimed that names of permanent residents in the state were being removed from the voter lists, the All-India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) accused the ruling BJP of turning the SR exercise into harassment of people. Regional party Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) recently alleged that names of migrants from Bihar were being included on Assam’s voter lists.

In a letter addressed to the Election Commission of India (ECI), leader of opposition Debabrata Saikia of the Congress said several permanent residents of Nazira assembly constituency submitted written representations to the district election officer on January 21, claiming that their names were excluded from the electoral rolls.

AIUDF MLAs Aminul Islam, Aminul Islam and Rafiqul Islam accused the BJP of “playing a dangerous game” to manipulate votes illegally. Whatever is happening in Assam in the name of SR is a serious setback for democracy, they alleged.

There is a deliberate attempt to strike off the names of people who have already suffered eviction, they alleged. Notices have been issued to more than 2.68 million people so far, with about 51,000 objections already rejected, they said, adding that the AIUDF would take legal action against this, If needed.

Assam Mahila Congress president Mira Borthakur claimed that the ruling BJP was seeking to remove nearly 6,000 names from Dispur assembly constituency under the pretext of e-KYC verification.

In a statement, the AJP accused the BJP of attempting to hire voters from Bihar. “Assam is not Bihar. Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma must understand that just as the BJP captured power in Bihar by manipulating voter lists, the same cannot be done in Assam. The political future of Assam is determined by its indigenous people,” it said.

The SR that the ECI is conducting in Assam is different from the more comprehensive special intensive revision (SIR) it is carrying out in several other states. Under the SR, the focus is mainly on inclusion of voters and an existing voter’s name remains on the list unless a specific objection is raised against it.

The Congress had earlier alleged bulk submission of Form 7 without providing any specific reasons and details under the SR of electoral rolls in Assam and sought intervention of the chief electoral officer over the matter.

Form 7 is used for raising objections to the inclusion of a name on the voter list, or deletion of one's own or another person’s name.

On December 27, the ECI announced that it concluded the house-to-house verification phase of the SR in Assam. The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on February 10.