The Congress and the Raijor Dal on Tuesday accused the ruling BJP in Assam of manipulating the ongoing special revision (SR) process to skew the rolls in its favour.

Poll-bound Assam is emerging as the latest flashpoint between Opposition parties and the Election Commission (EC) over the revision of electoral rolls.

The Congress staged a protest in Guwahati, alleging “serious irregularities” in the draft electoral rolls in several parts of the city. In Dibrugarh, the Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi accused state BJP chief Dilip Saikia of directing party MLAs and district leaders to identify and delete anti-BJP voters in 60 of Assam’s 126 constituencies.
Gogoi claimed the directive was issued during a video conference on January 4, where it was allegedly conveyed that cabinet minister Ashok Singhal was “entrusted” with the task.

Dismissing Gogoi’s claim, a BJP leader who participated in the January 4 meeting, told the The Telegraph that “no such thing was said by Dilip Saikia”.

In the remaining constituencies, Gogoi alleged, MLAs and mandal presidents were instructed to submit lists of anti-BJP voters by January 12 for deletion. He later posted screenshots of the purported meeting on Facebook and challenged chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to prove him wrong. Sarma dismissed the allegations, calling Gogoi an “entertainer”, while Saikia termed them “baseless and misleading”.

During the Congress protest, led by Assam PCC general secretaries Pradyut Bhuyan and Shantanu Bora and Guwahati Metropolitan Congress president Swapan Das, slogans like “Down with the Election Commission” and “Vote chor, gaddi chhodd” were raised. The party alleged that “outsiders” had been included in the voter list near Dighalipukhuri and that over 30 “non-existent” voters were enrolled at a single house in Ward No. 7.

Das and Mahila Congress president Mira Barthakur Goswami demanded a CBI probe into Gogoi’s allegations and urged the EC to conduct elections using the previous rolls. They accused the booth-level officer of failing to locate the house with 30 listed voters. A senior Congress leader has reportedly written to the EC, seeking an inquiry.

The controversy mirrors a similar row in neighbouring Bengal, where the TMC has accused the EC of conducting an “unconstitutional” special intensive revision (SIR). On Tuesday, TMC MP Derek O’Brien moved the Supreme Court, alleging procedural irregularities.

Both Assam and Bengal head to the polls in March-April. While Bengal is undergoing SIR, Assam is undergoing SR — a process between SIR and special summary revision.

On November 18, Goel assured that existing voters would not be adversely affected and that the exercise aimed to ensure the inclusion of eligible voters and the removal of ineligible ones.

The claims and objections phase is currently underway. The final electoral rolls are scheduled for publication on February 10.