HT Correspondent
SIVASAGAR, Jan 29: Protests over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections continue in Sivasagar. Opposition parties in several states, including Assam have expressed strong objections to the process. In Sivasagar, Raijor Dal activists have been protesting the SIR for the past few weeks, alleging that it targets indigenous Assamese people.
Today, a group of youths led by Parasjyoti Das and Jintu Mech submitted a memorandum demanding the immediate rollback of the SIR process, alleging harassment of local residents in the name of identifying Bangladeshi infiltrators. The protesters claimed that the names of over a hundred local Muslims had been deleted, while names of Hindi-speaking migrants from other states were being added.
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Jintu Mech of Asom Yuva Chatra Sanmilan said that while poll revision is acceptable, it should not discriminate against any particular community. He accused the Election Office of being politicised under BJP influence, warning that the rights of Muslims could be threatened in the future. Parasjyoti Das of SC Students’ Union alleged that the SIR process was prepared jointly by BJP and RSS and called it undemocratic. He urged the Election Commission to remain impartial.
The memorandum was submitted to the Returning Officer of Sivasagar, to be forwarded to the Election Commission of India.
Responding to the allegations, District Election Officer Aditi Neog told the Assam Tribune that electoral rolls have undergone 13 intensive revisions since 1952 under the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and the SIR 2025 was announced by the Chief Election Commissioner on October 27. She described the process as a normal constitutional obligation to ensure no genuine voter is deprived of their rights and said it is free from political bias.
Refuting claims of discrimination, Neog stated that there has been no inclusion of non-Assamese voters or deletion of Muslim names from the rolls. She said Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have been working extensively to prepare an error-free voter list, visiting households multiple times if necessary. She added that if the allegations were true, actual voters, not youths from political groups would have approached the Election Office.
Our Nagaon Correspondent adds: The Nagaon district committee of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) staged a protest rally in Nagaon town on Thursday against the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of the voter list.
The rally began at Nehrubali Field and concluded at the District Commissioner’s office, where the party submitted a memorandum demanding the arrest of alleged fake complainants who, they claimed were conspiring to remove genuine Indian citizens from the electoral rolls.
Protesters raised slogans including “Arrest fake complainants,” “Stop conspiracy to remove names from voter list,” and “Election Commission should not be a puppet of BJP.” AIUDF alleged that a section of complainants were attempting to target legitimate voters and called for strict action against them.
