‘SR’ a conspiracy to alter Assam’s demography: Debabrata Saikia

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Assam, Debabrata Saikia, on Sunday alleged that the BJP government is indulging in a dangerous voter fraud in the name of Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls, posing a serious threat to the existence and political rights of Assam’s indigenous people.

Taking to the media, Saikia claimed that instead of completing the National Register of Citizens (NRC) update as mandated by the Assam Accord, the BJP-led government has launched the SR process to deliberately alter the state’s demographic balance. He alleged that large numbers of people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are being illegally added to voter lists, citing instances from areas like Tayabulla Road in Guwahati, where, he said, the influx is clearly visible.

“The Assam Accord clearly states that foreigners who entered Assam after March 24, 1971 must be detected and deported. Instead of acting on this, the BJP has completely ignored the NRC, which excluded nearly 19 lakh people, and is now facilitating the inclusion of unfamiliar names in the electoral rolls,” Saikia alleged.

He said that even after Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi publicly raised the issue and warned of electoral manipulation, neither the Election Commission nor the government took corrective steps. Saikia further alleged that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are under severe administrative pressure, leading to mental stress and even tragic deaths.

Calling the BJP’s agenda “Hindutva-driven imperialism” and an attempt to impose “one nation, one language”, Saikia warned that Assam’s language, culture, and indigenous political rights are under grave threat. He urged the people of Assam to remain vigilant against what he described as a well-planned conspiracy.

“We do not want the burden of migrants imposed on Assam through SR. What we want is a clean, foreigner-free Assam,” Saikia asserted.

Clarifying the Congress party’s stand on the Orunodoi scheme, Saikia said the party has never opposed and will never oppose welfare measures for the poor. However, he accused Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma of political hypocrisy. He also questioned the logic behind withholding payments in January and releasing them together in February.

He pointed out that the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system used to disburse Orunodoi funds was introduced during the Dr. Manmohan Singh-led UPA government. Saikia recalled that while serving as a minister in the Sarbananda Sonowal cabinet, Sarma himself had once quoted a Chinese proverb: “Instead of giving fish, teach people how to fish.”

“But what is happening today?” Saikia asked. “Instead of creating livelihood opportunities, the BJP is making people permanently dependent on government handouts.”

He said that during the Congress regime, schemes like FOIGS (Family Oriented Income Generation Scheme) were implemented to make families self-reliant, whereas the BJP has shut down productive schemes and focused solely on creating ‘beneficiaries’ for electoral gains.

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