The Opposition Congress in Assam has tasked senior leaders to take part in training programmes for booth-level agents (BLAs) ahead of the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in the state before the Assembly polls early next year.
According to an Assam PCC circular issued on August 22, the eight-day district-level training began on Sunday. Party MPs, MLAs, senior leaders and master trainers have been roped in to impart training across districts. Though no dates have been announced for the SIR, the office of the Assam CEO has started preparations.
PCC president Gaurav Gogoi, Congress Legislature Party leader Debabrata Saikia, former PCC chiefs Bhupen Kumar Borah and Ripun Bora and sitting MPs Pradyut Bordoloi and Rakibul Hussain are among the trainers.
Saikia, who attended a camp in Bongaigaon on Monday, said the party was taking the exercise seriously after Rahul Gandhi’s recent “exposure of voter list manipulation” in the Lok Sabha polls and the SIR in Bihar.
“The state unit feels we need to be alert and ensure a correct updated voter list so no genuine citizen is left out. The outreach through BLAs is crucial ahead of the elections,” Saikia said.
The training will conclude with a rally in Dibrugarh on August 31, to be attended by Gogoi, Saikia, Bordoloi, Bora and AICC secretary Vikas Upadhyay.
Through the programme, Congress aims to cover its 28,800 polling booths. BLAs are being familiarised with ways voter lists could be manipulated, with alleged instances shared from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Bihar.
The push also addresses a complaint from party insiders during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls — that many booths had no agents or ill-prepared ones.
The voter list issue gained traction after Rahul Gandhi claimed 1.02 lakh fake voters were added in a Karnataka seat, and with the Bihar SIR now under Supreme Court scrutiny.