A CORRESPONDENT
SILCHAR: Raising serious concerns over the "motivated and fallacious" process of deleting names from the electoral roll, Rajya Sabha MP Susmita Dev appealed to the Chief Election Commissioner to extend the date for the publication of the final voter list. Alleging massive malpractices by a section of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) under instructions from the BJP, Susmita threatened to file an FIR against a panchayat-level worker of the ruling party in Borkhola.
Susmita said she had noticed that a huge number of objections had been filed under Form-7 to delete the names of individuals. "These objections have been filed in bulk, and in most cases the complainant named in the form is either untraceable or has denied filing the forms," she pointed out.
She also exhibited a public petition signed by the residents of Masughat GP in Borkhola and addressed to the District Commissioner, alleging that one Mohanlal Das, a Block Level Agent and BJP activist, had filed 22 false Form-7 objections.
Susmita further said it was practically impossible to serve notices to each and every person and conduct hearings before February 2. She added that, according to the website of the Chief Electoral Officer of Assam, Silchar had received about 15,304 objections, Katigorah 9,671, Mangaldoi 8,602, Sualkuchi 10,151, and Barkhetri 10,249.
Susmita alleged that, fearing massive anti-incumbency, the BJP government was attempting to manipulate the voter list with the intention of deleting the names of Muslims and others whom they believed would not vote for the party.
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