“Delete anti-BJP voters”: Akhil Gogoi makes explosive allegations against Assam BJP

Guwahati: Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi on Monday triggered a fresh political storm in Assam after alleging large-scale manipulation of electoral rolls by the ruling BJP ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.

In a Facebook Live address, Gogoi, who is also president of Raijor Dal, accused the BJP government and party leadership of preparing a blueprint to systematically delete the names of lakhs of anti-BJP voters from the voter list. He alleged that the directive was issued by BJP’s state president Dilip Saikia during a video conference with party ministers, MLAs and district presidents.

According to Gogoi, the meeting was held on December 4 at around 8 pm and included what he described as a “secret” discussion in which party leaders were instructed to target voters in areas where the BJP receives fewer votes. He claimed that he personally heard the conversation through an associate.

Gogoi further alleged that minister Ashok Singhal has been assigned special responsibility to oversee voter list revision in 60 identified Assembly constituencies. A plan has allegedly been drawn up to remove the names of voters considered challenging for the BJP.

He claimed that MLAs and mandal presidents have been instructed to prepare booth-wise lists of such voters and submit them by December 12.

The MLA also alleged that the video conference included strict instructions on party campaigning, with Dilip Saikia reportedly directing each MLA to carry out at least 500 wall writings and warning against negligence.

Drawing parallels with the earlier delimitation exercise, MLA Gogoi claimed that the BJP is now attempting to consolidate its electoral advantage by deleting names from voter lists. “The Ashok Singhal brigade, the Dilip Saikia brigade and the Himanta Biswa Sarma brigade have already been deployed to snatch away the fundamental rights of the people,” he said.

Issuing a direct challenge to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Gogoi said that if his allegations are false, the government should make public the recording of the video conference. “If needed, conduct my narco test,” he said, while demanding a high-level judicial inquiry into the matter.

Gogoi called upon all opposition parties to unite and immediately approach the Election Commission, and demanded a halt to the ongoing special revision of electoral rolls. He described the alleged actions as “an attack on the Constitution and democracy.”

BJP leaders, however, have dismissed the claims as “baseless and politically motivated”, stating that voter list revision is a routine process carried out under the supervision of the Election Commission. An official reaction from the BJP and the state government is awaited.

The Election Commission is currently undertaking a special revision of electoral rolls across Assam ahead of the forthcoming Assembly polls.

The process allows for inclusion, deletion and correction of voter names based on prescribed procedures. Opposition parties have, in the past, raised concerns over alleged misuse of the revision exercise, while the ruling party has maintained that the process is transparent and conducted strictly as per law.