Prepare for SIR of electoral rolls: Assam CEO to district officials | India News

GUWAHATI: Assam’s chief electoral officer (CEO) Anurag Goel has issued a high-priority directive to all district election officers (DEOs) to prepare for a special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls before Election Commission (EC) releases its schedule in 15 to 20 days.The CEO’s order mandates that all electoral registration officers (EROs), assistant EROs, and booth-level officers (BLOs) be in place before the SIR schedule is announced. The state will go to the polls early next year for the first time since the redrawing of its 126 constituencies in 2023.The directive also requires that additional BLOs for newly created polling stations be identified in advance, pending EC approval. It bars the assignment of election staff and data entry operators to other duties during SIR, particularly in Bodoland Territorial Council districts, which are preparing for separate autonomous council polls, likely to be held in Sept as hinted by CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.The CM has intensified his call for an SIR of electoral rolls, framing it as essential to cleanse voter lists of alleged illegal entries. He said Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s recent remarks on vote theft and Aadhaar-linked voter IDs inadvertently validated the need for the exercise. “In Assam, there are Bangladesh-origin Miya Muslim brothers, and their names appear in Barpeta, Guwahati, Kerala, and even Delhi.” The last intensive revision was conducted in 2005. DEOs have been instructed to share the updated 2005 voter list with recognised parties, activate district contact centres for public queries, and ensure daily updates to grievance service portal .