Himanta Biswa Sarma announces Assam rallies against Rahul Gandhi over EC row, backs nationwide SIR every 5 years

Guwahati: With Congress targeting Election Commission (EC) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday announced peaceful rallies will be organised at district headquarters across the state from October 13 to 31 against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for undermining constitutional institutions. Sarma advocated conducting an SIR across the country once every five years.

In a post on X, CM Sarma said the BJP’s Assam unit would organise the rallies to counter what he described as the Congress’ attempts to pressure constitutional institutions and undermine the democratic mandate."

Sarma said that Congress party has a double standard as when it wins election it does not target EVM .”Rahul Gandhi and his Congress party are mounting an attack on the very foundations of India’s vibrant democracy.Their double standard is plain to see. When @narendramodi Ji is elected Prime Minister, Rahul Gandhi calls it manipulation, yet his own election to Parliament and his subsequent elevation as Leader of the Opposition is beyond question,” CM Sarma wrote on X “When Assam votes, the result is unacceptable, when Kerala votes, it is welcomed. Democracy, for the Congress, is valid only when it delivers victory for the Congress,” the CM further said.


He said that Congress is trying to pressurize the judiciary. The Chief Justice of India declined a request for a meeting with opposition MPs.The Chief Minister said the rallies would highlight the Congress’ opposition to the SIR.

Sarma said that through these rallies, they will alert people to the Congress party’s attempts to “blackmail our constitutional institutions”; “shield illegal infiltrators by opposing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)” and “undermine the democratic mandate of the people”.

Sarma said SIR is needed as there is continuous infiltration of people from Bangladesh.

The Chief Minister recalled that Indrajit Gupta had told Parliament during his tenure as Union Home Minister that the names of 30 lakh foreigners were included in Assam’s voter list.

“Assam deports infiltrators every day by following the law. If there is no SIR in the country, how can we remove the names of lakhs of foreigners from the voter list?” he asked.

He also dared the Congress to announce that it would not contest the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand under Kumar.

There is no certainty as to when SIR of electoral rolls will be rolled out in Assam as the process of creation of Aadhaar like data regime for NRC data is still on. There is no rush to take up the exercise for now.

Assam went to polls early this year without SIR being carried out instead Special Revision was taken in its place. Assam which shares an international border with Bangladesh is a sensitive state and illegal influx from Bangladesh has always been an issue here.

On November 18, 2025, Assam chief electoral officer (CEO) Anurag Goel said that Assam home department has informed the Election Commission that process is on for creation of data security regime for NRC and is likely to be completed by August 2026. Once the same is completed Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral roll can take place in Assam.

SIR could not take place in Assam as the NRC remains unresolved. Both- the BJP led Assam government as well as the Chief Electoral Officer of Assam had separately conveyed to the Election Commission in late 2025 that the SIR should only be conducted in Assam after the upcoming assembly elections and once the NRC is notified.