Congress president opposes inclusion of Bongaigaon voters in BTC electoral roll
Girish Barua raised strong objections to the inclusion of 1,799 voters from Bongaigaon Assembly segment in the Kajalgaon BTC constituency, calling it a violation of voter rights.
A file image of a voter casting vote. (Photo: PTI)
Bongaigaon, July 31: Congress party's Bongaigaon district unit president Girish Barua has opposed the inclusion of some voters of Bongaigaon Assembly segment as the voters of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).
At a press meet in Rajiv Bhawan here today, Barua said a total of 1,799 voters of Bongaigaon Assembly segment have been enlisted as the voters of Kajalgaon BTC constituency.
Interestingly, all the three polling stations (No. 64, 65, 66) marked for these voters have been set up in Rajendra School which is located at New Bongaigaon under Bongaigaon Assembly segment, Barua pointed out.
Besides, booth level officers (BLOs) of these polling stations, who have been working under Bongaigaon district administration, were instructed by the Chirang district administration a few days back to discharge duty as BLOs in the upcoming BTC polls at their respective booths. But they reportedly asked for writ-ten order from the Chirang district administration. However, such order has not been issued to them yet, Barua added.
According to Barua, this exercise is ‘intentional’ and has violated the rights of the voters of Bongaigaon Assembly seat.
As per the Election Com-mission of India, New Bongaigaon Railway Colony has been included in Bongaigaon Assembly seat during the recent delimitation exercise, so there is no scope to enlist the voters of the colony as the voters of BTC, Barua said.
Hence, he demanded immediate attention of the Bongaigaon administration to the issue and criticized Bongaigaon local legislator Diptimoyee Choudhury and Barpeta Lok Sabha MP Phani Bhusan Choudhury for adopting a silent role on such a serious issue.
Earlier on July 29, the Assam government’s decision to include Assamese and indigenous-majority villages from Northern Sootea into the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts (BTAD) triggered widespread unrest among local residents. In a protest meeting held at Sapekhati on Monday, villagers strongly opposed the reorganisation, claiming the decision was made without consultation and would lead to the "erosion of their cultural identity and administrative ties".