Six Opposition parties in Assam on Sunday submitted a memorandum to the state’s chief electoral officer, alleging that “illegal, arbitrary and unlawful” bulk objections were filed against genuine voters in the state amid the special revision of electoral rolls.
They further said that this could result in the exclusion of large numbers of voters due to alleged “anomalies, discrepancies and unlawful interference” by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The memorandum was submitted by the Congress, the Raijor Dal, the Assam Jatiya Parishad, and the three left parties – the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist).
Unlike in 12 states and Union Territories, the Election Commission is not conducting a special intensive revision exercise in Assam. Instead, on November 17, it had directed the state chief electoral officer to conduct a special revision of voter rolls ahead of Assembly elections, expected to be held in March-April.
The door-to-door verification took place in the state between November 22 and December 20. The process did not involve document verification, unlike the special intensive revision.
On December 27, the Election Commission said that the names of more than 10 lakh voters were identified to be deleted in Assam after a house-to-house verification process under the ‘special revision’ exercise. The final list will be published on February 10.
Claims and objections to inclusions and deletions in the draft electoral rolls can be filed between December 27 and January 22. These are to be disposed of by February 2 and the final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on February 10.
In their memorandum on Sunday, the parties alleged that bulk objections had been filed against genuine voters, primarily on the grounds that they were either deceased or had permanently shifted residence.
They claimed that electoral officers in several Assembly constituencies had issued notices to voters in violation of legal provisions, including by providing very short notice periods and failing to mention the grounds on which objections had been raised.
The parties also alleged that a large number of objections were fake and filed without the knowledge of the purported objectors.
According to them, several persons whose names appeared as objectors had publicly stated that they had no knowledge of filing such objections, and that their Election Photo Identity Card numbers and mobile numbers had been misused by unknown persons.
The memorandum also alleged that booth-level officers, acting on instructions from electoral registration officers, were carrying out suo motu deletions of names of genuine voters. It claimed that some booth-level officers had said they were coerced into doing so or that their signatures had been obtained under false pretences.
The parties said that voters who had been affected by eviction drives were being prevented from submitting Form 8 applications to change their place of residence. According to the memorandum, such voters were not being allowed to apply either online or offline, “only with a view to oust them from the final electoral rolls”.
The memorandum also alleged “unlawful and illegal interference” in the special revision exercise at the co-district office in South Kamrup. It named three Bharatiya Janata Party office-bearers, alleging that they had been frequently present inside the office and had influenced officials to issue bulk objection notices during the revision process.
The memorandum also flagged the statement made by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday that only Miyas and not Hindus or Assamese Muslims were being served notices under the special revision exercise.
“Miya” is a derogatory term for Bengali-speaking Muslims. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Assam has often labelled the community as “infiltrators” who are allegedly taking over resources, jobs and land of the indigenous people.
“Such a statement is arbitrary, mala fide and wholly unconstitutional as it betrays a predetermined intent to target a specific community and undermines the neutrality of the electoral process,” the parties said in their letter to the Election Commission.
They asked the chief electoral officer to summarily reject illegal bulk objections without calling voters for hearings, take action against those who filed unlawful objections, and ensure a reasonable time is given for hearings in genuine cases.
They also demanded that officials be restrained from suo motu deletions, that eviction-affected voters be allowed to submit Form 8 applications, and that unauthorised persons, including political party office-bearers, be barred from influencing officials involved in the revision.
The memorandum also called for the registration of a first information report against those allegedly found tampering with the revision process in South Kamrup, among other demands.
On January 9, five Opposition parties in Assam filed a police complaint accusing the ruling BJP of conspiring to delete the names of a large number of genuine voters from the state’s electoral rolls.
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