Guwahati: Opposition parties in Assam have appealed to the Election Commission (EC) to ensure that no eligible voter is deleted from the electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Revision (SR), alleging that Form 7 is being misused by “BJP agents” to harass genuine citizens.
They also argued that the February 2 deadline for disposing of claims and objections filed during the SR is too short, and urged the EC to extend the timeline to ensure the exercise is completed fairly.
In a joint statement, Left parties—CPI(M), CPI, CPI (ML), All India Forward Bloc and SUCI (C)—alleged that Form 7 has been selectively used to lodge complaints against eligible voters belonging to the minority community.
They alleged that Form 7 applications were filed in bulk against hundreds of voters on the basis of single complaints, with several instances where the same complainant sought the deletion of multiple names. They further claimed that attempts were made to remove even living voters from the rolls by falsely declaring them “dead.”
The opposition asserted that under the rules, Form 7 may be used to seek deletion of one’s own name on grounds such as permanent migration, death, duplicate enrolment or non-citizenship, and that objections against others are also permitted only on these limited grounds. They alleged that these provisions were being misused during the ongoing special revision exercise.
The opposition parties called for stringent action against those found to be misusing Form 7 and sought safeguards to ensure that no eligible voter is deprived of their voting rights. They also urged the Election Commission to ensure that names already included in the updated National Register of Citizens are retained in the final electoral rolls.
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The Election Commission is yet to issue a detailed response to the allegations. The final electoral roll is slated for publication on February 10.
