BJP seeks special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Assam
BJP party chief Dilip Saikia accused the Opposition of appeasement politics and raises concerns over discrepancies in the electoral roll.
Dilip Saikia at the press meet (Photo: @DilipSaikia4Bjp / X)
Guwahati, Jan 8: The ruling BJP on Wednesday demanded a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Assam on the lines of that being undertaken in several other States and Union Territories (UTs) of the country by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
"We welcome the SIR being conducted in different States and we demand SIR in Assam also. An SIR in Assam is necessary to prepare a correct voter list. This will ensure that the names of only genuine Indian citizens remain in the voter list and the names of the suspected people are removed," State BJP president Dilip Saikia said at a press conference here.
Saikia said that a correct voter list is imperative for the electoral process under the democratic setup.
"We demand SIR in Assam at the earliest. At present, only Special Revision (SR) is being conducted here. Only the genuine citizens can become voters. Unfortunately, here we noticed discrepancy even in the NRC updation process. That is why we have rejected the NRC data... Lakhs of suspected people got enrolled in the voter list during the time of the Congress party's rule. But having name in the voter list does not mean being a genuine citizen of India," he said.
Saikia alleged that many people have got enrolled in the voter list is needed to clean up the list.
He also pointed out that such nationwide revisions took place many times since Independence.
"But it has not happened during the last 20 years," Saikia said.
Asked if the ruling party is un-happy with the ongoing SR 2026 being currently undertaken in Assam, Saikia said, "We are satisfied with the SR. But we are unhappy with the 'Miya Prem' of Akhil Gogoi and Lurinjyoti Gogoi. By becoming blind in their Miya Prem, they have used a virtual conference of our party as a political weapon. That has exposed their narrative. They just want to protect their Miya vote bank. They do not want the deletion of the names of even ten Miyas from the voter list, even if the names of thousands of indigenous people gets removed... And Gaurav Gogoi is one step ahead of Akhil Gogoi and Lurinjyoti Gogoi."
He accused the Opposition par-ties of indulging in the politics of appeasement.
"The politics of appeasement and vote bank and Miya Prem are not for the BJP. We leave that to Gaurav Gogoi, Akhil Gogoi and Lurinjyoti Gogoi. Their mindset and work are very dangerous for Assam. We urge the people of Assam to be cautious of the three Gogois," Saikia said, and accused the Opposition leaders of being intellectual ly bankrupt and giving immature statements.
Regarding the allegation by Raijor Dal leader Akhil Gogoi that senior BJP functionaries are conspiring to manipulate the ongoing SR of electoral rolis to ensure the saffron party's victory in the 2026 Assembly elections, Saikia said, "Akhil Gogoi has shared a screenshot of our party's virtual conference. But that screenshot has been shared by the participants of the January 4 virtual conference themselves. Akhil Gogoi's allegations are not even worth five paise. Let the INDI Alliance leaders first arrive at a common figure. Akhil Gogoi is saying we are trying to manage 60 seats, while Lurinjyoti Gogoi is saying 31 seats... It is the ECI that is undertaking the SR. They (the Opposition) do not even have that common sense. Similar allegations were also levelled in Bi-har earlier, but the Opposition suffered a serious setback there."
He said the SR in Assam is heing carried out as per existing provi sions of the ECI
"We want a correct voter list. Votes are cast in the name of persons who have been dead for 30 years. The names of dead people and those who have shifted remain in the voter list," Saikia said.
The BJP leader added that there is ample scope to approach the ECI in case of any discrepancy in the draft roll published last month.
Regarding seat-sharing among the NDA constituents for the forthcoming Assembly polls, Saikia said the process is being carried out in phases.
"All partners agree on the need for a third consecutive NDA government in Assam," Saikia said.
He added that the BJP is keen to have an electoral tie-up with both the BPF and the UPPL but admitted that it is not going to be easy.