Assam oppn parties claim BJP ‘conspired' to omit names from voter list; CM rejects charge
Guwahati (PTI): Opposition parties in Assam on Friday approached the police and the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) against the BJP, alleging that it conspired to delete names from the electoral rolls ahead of the assembly polls, a charge rejected by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Sarma maintained that revision of electoral rolls is a regular process to ensure ineligible names are struck off, and eligible voters included through a due procedure.
He also made light of the Congress’ ‘vote chori’ allegation here, stating that elections are yet to take place.
Assam has registered a 1.35 per cent increase in voters as per the draft electoral rolls, published on 30 December after the Special Revision (SR) was conducted ahead of the Assembly polls. A total of 7,86,841 additions and 4,47,196 deletions have taken place.
Five of the opposition parties — the Congress, CPI(M), Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad and the CPI(ML)L — filed a complaint at Dispur Police Station here, claiming that state BJP president Dilip Saikia has specifically entrusted cabinet minister Ashok Singhal to carry out the deletion process in 60 legislative assembly constituencies (LACs).
They also submitted a memorandum to the CEO, claiming anomalies and discrepancies in the ongoing revision of electoral rolls.
A Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls is underway in Assam, with the final voter list to be published on February 10. Assembly elections are likely to be held in March-April.
“When the Election Commission revises the voters’ list, all political parties have the right to appoint Booth Level Agents (BLAs). BJP has appointed its BLAs, and we have told them to ensure ineligible names are struck off, eligible voters included, and if any correction is needed, it be made,” Sarma said.
“This is a process…even if a name has to be deleted, the person is given due notice and opportunity to present his side,” the CM told reporters on the sidelines of a programme here when asked about the opposition crying foul against the ruling party.
He maintained that the revision of electoral rolls is for the purpose of sanitising it, and if no names could have been deleted or included, there would have been no need for the exercise.
He underlined that all political parties can appoint their BLAs and raise complaints with the EC regarding the rolls.
On Congress’s charge of ‘vote chori’, Sarma said, “How can vote chori have taken place when election hasn’t happened yet? When the Election Commission’s process is on, and no (final) list has been published, where is the question of vote chori?”
Asked about the opposition parties' filing a police complaint, he said, “Very good. They should file the case.”
The five opposition parties, in the police complaint, alleged that the state BJP president “instructed the BJP MLAs to take necessary steps for deletion of names in 60 LACs and also entrusted Hon'ble Minister Shri Ashok Singhal in a Zoom meeting held on 04/01/2026”.
“This is the evil design to delete the names of supporters of opposition parties from the electoral rolls,” it claimed, urging the police to secure the footage of the video conference involving Saikia as it “contains crucial evidence”.
The opposition parties claimed that this was a “larger conspiracy to delete the names of large numbers of genuine voters from the electoral rolls”.
“Therefore, you are requested to register a case under proper sections of penal law and take necessary steps to book the conspirators to save democracy,” the complaint said.
A police officer said the matter is being looked into.
In a separate memorandum submitted to the CEO, the opposition parties raised similar allegations and urged the CEO to restrain the CM, the BJP state president and other unauthorised persons from interfering in the revision of the electoral rolls.
They also asked the CEO to enquire into its accusation that the ruling party was conspiring of omitting voters who were supporters of the opposition camp.
The Raijor Dal has sent a separate complaint over the matter to the chief election commission, alleging conspiracy to illegally delete 10,000 opposition votes per constituency in the state ahead of the Assembly polls.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
