Assam: Opposition Parties Move Chief Electoral Officer on SR Row

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Leaders of several opposition political parties in Assam on Sunday submitted a memorandum to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Assam, alleging gross anomalies, unlawful interference and arbitrary issuance of bulk notices in the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls.

The memorandum was submitted following a joint press conference addressed by senior opposition leaders. The delegation was led by Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, along with Manoranjan Talukdar (MLA, CPI-M), Akhil Gogoi (MLA), and Lurinjyoti Gogoi, president of Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), among others.

In the memorandum, the opposition parties alleged that the SR process is being conducted in violation of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, the Manual on Electoral Rolls, 2023, and a recent communication issued by the Election Commission of India dated November 17, 2025.

The parties claimed that although the draft electoral roll published on December 27, 2025, recorded over 2.51 crore verified electors with 100 percent coverage, large numbers of “illegal and arbitrary bulk objections” were subsequently filed, mainly on the grounds of deceased and shifted voters. They alleged that Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) have been issuing notices to genuine voters without properly mentioning the grounds of objection and often allowing very short time for response, allegedly in violation of established rules.

The memorandum further claimed that many objections were filed fraudulently using EPIC numbers and mobile numbers of unsuspecting individuals. Some persons reportedly stated that they had no knowledge of objections being filed in their names.

The opposition also alleged that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) were being coerced into carrying out suo moto deletions of voters’ names, which they described as impermissible under Election Commission guidelines. It was further claimed that eviction-affected voters are being prevented from filing Form 8 applications for change of residence, both online and offline.

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