Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday escalated his rhetoric against the Miya community, asserting that at least four-to-five lakh Miya voters will be deleted when the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is carried out in the state.

Reacting to a query on the ongoing special revision (SR) of electoral roll in poll-bound Assam in Digboi, Sarma asked: “What is ‘vote chori’? We are trying to steal some Miya votes. Miyas should legally not be allowed to vote in Assam; they should vote in Bangladesh. We are making arrangements to stop them from voting in Assam but this is preliminary.”

Sarma then added: “When the SIR comes to Assam, we will have to delete four to five lakh Miya votes. No matter how much Congress abuses me, my job is to make the Miyas suffer. If they don’t suffer, they will come to Duliajan. They have (already) come to Tinsukia.”

Digboi, Duliajan and Tinsukia are located in Hindu-majority Upper Assam. The Miya community (Bengali-speaking Muslims with roots in present-day Bangladesh) is largely concentrated in lower Assam and the Barak Valley.

BJP leaders often target the Miya community as infiltrators from Bangladesh, even though the 1985 Assam Accord has fixed a cut-off date of March 24, 1971, for detection, deletion and deportation of illegal immigrants.

The Election Commission ordered the SR in Assam, not the SIR currently underway in 12 states, because of issues related to the Supreme Court-monitored update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.

The SR started in November and the draft poll roll was published on December 27.

The Assam chief minister stepped up his attack on the Miya community by evening, asserting he had asked BJP members during meetings and video conference to file as many complaints as possible against Miyas through Form 7 (objections and claims).

“All complaints were done on my bidding so that they suffer and understand that the Assamese community is still alive. There is nothing to hide here. You should also file (complaints),” he said on Tuesday evening.

He further said if the rickshaw fare is ₹5 , people should pay a rupee less to Miya rickshaw pullers to “make them suffer”.

The chief minister’s assertions come two days after six Opposition parties met the Assam chief electoral officer (CEO) seeking registration of a suo motu FIR against persons “linked” to the ruling BJP allegedly involved in the “tampering” of the electoral roll in Boko constituency.