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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Naval information leak case: Fourth accused held
Udupi (Karnataka) (PTI): The Udupi police have arrested another accused in a case involving the alleged transmission of confidential information related to the Indian Navy to Pakistan, taking the total number of arrests to four, officials said on Thursday.
The arrested accused has been identified as Alif Islam (21), a native of West Bengal, who was presently residing at Marayur village in Idukki district of Kerala, they said.
He was apprehended in connection with the alleged leak of a confidential list containing identification numbers of Indian naval vessels, police said.
According to investigators, the accused are suspected to have shared sensitive information through WhatsApp and Facebook with contacts in Pakistan without authorisation.
The case was registered at Malpe police station in 2025 following a complaint regarding the alleged illegal transmission of naval-related data, officials said.
Police said the investigation pertains to the alleged sharing of a classified list of ship numbers linked to the Indian Navy.
In November 2025, two accused -- Rohit and Santri from Uttar Pradesh -- were taken into custody in connection with the same case. Later, Hirendra Kumar from Gujarat was arrested in December 2025.
With the latest arrest, the number of persons held in the case has risen to four.
Police said one more accused is yet to be apprehended. The operator of the Facebook page allegedly used to transmit the information also remains at large.
Investigators suspect that Islam may be a Bangladeshi national, and efforts are on to verify his citizenship and other credentials.
Further investigation is under way, police added.
