GUWAHATI, Jan 6: The Assam Congress alleged serious irregularities in the draft electoral rolls released during the ongoing Special Revision (SR) exercise and demanded immediate intervention by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia has written to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar urging the suspension of the finalisation of the electoral rolls, citing unauthorised inclusion of non-Assamese speaking voters and procedural lapses. He claimed that several voters were added without the knowledge of household members, including entries marked as “unknown.”

In his letter, Saikia pointed to specific instances such as the inclusion of four non-Assamese voters at House Nos. 44 and 15 on Tayabulla Road in Guwahati, as well as entries against a non-existent Household No. 00 in the Nazira constituency. He warned that such discrepancies could undermine the integrity of the electoral process and violate Clause 6 of the Assam Accord. Saikia also echoed concerns raised by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi regarding the possibility of vote manipulation.

Calling for a transparent and impartial inquiry, Saikia urged the ECI to publicly disclose the findings, remove bogus entries, and enforce stricter verification procedures before the final electoral roll is published on February 10.

The draft electoral roll, released on December 30, lists 2.52 crore voters, reflecting a 1.35 per cent increase compared to the previous roll. According to the ECI, the revision process has so far recorded 7.86 lakh new additions and 4.47 lakh deletions since January 2025. The Commission has also identified 4.79 lakh deceased voters, 5.24 lakh shifted voters, and 53,619 duplicate entries, all of which are subject to formal claims and objections during the ongoing period from December 27 to January 22.

Responding to the allegations, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma dismissed the opposition’s claims and advised them to use the prescribed Forms 6, 7 and 8 to seek corrections instead of raising the issue in the media. He said the claims and objections process is underway, with special verification drives already conducted on January 3–4 and scheduled again for January 10–11 to ensure accuracy of the electoral rolls.