Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on January 9 rejected Congress party claims of “vote chori” against the ruling BJP, calling the allegations baseless as the voter list has not yet been published.
Addressing the opposition’s accusations, Sarma said there is no question of voter manipulation at this stage. “When no list has been published so far, how can there be ‘vote chori’?” he asked, dismissing the charges.
The Chief Minister clarified that the BJP state president has only instructed booth-level agents (BLAs) to ensure the electoral rolls are accurate by removing ineligible voters and including eligible ones. He emphasized that such measures are routine and lawful steps in the process of updating voter lists.
Sarma underlined that maintaining clean and accurate voter lists is crucial for free and fair elections and should not be politicized. He noted that the Election Commission follows a transparent, well-defined procedure for revising electoral rolls, with political parties playing only a facilitative role through their BLAs.
Earlier, the Assam Congress had accused the BJP of attempting to manipulate voter lists. Sarma described the allegations as misleading and designed to create unnecessary confusion ahead of the elections.
