ALONG with Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry, Assam is going to Assembly poll in March-April this year. The ruling BJP-led front is seeking its third term. On the other side, the anti-BJP forces are gearing up to unseat the ruling parties this time.

BENEFICIARY SCHEMES

As the election draws closer, the BJP government is announcing an array of new schemes to expand the net of beneficiaries. The target of BJP-led government is to entice the beneficiaries with the coming election in mind. They are also intimidating the beneficiaries by threatening that they will lose the benefits if they do not join the BJP campaign for elections. Paradoxically, the number of eligible women who are left out of the beneficiary lists are much more than the number of beneficiaries. Therefore, there is also a backlash amongst a large number of women towards the beneficiary schemes.

ST STATUS FOR SIX COMMUNITIES

Giving Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to six communities – Tai-Ahom, Moran, Matak, Chutia, Tea Community and Koch-Rajbongshi – is a long-standing issue in Assam. Way back in 2004, the state Assembly passed a unanimous resolution urging the central govt to take necessary steps for giving ST status to these communities. During the electioneering for 2014 Lok Sabha election, Narendra Modi announced that BJP would ensure that the demand would be met within six months of coming to power. After sitting idle for five years, in January 2019, the central government moved a bill in Rajya Sabha proposing ST status for six communities, on the eve of the Lok Sabha election. However, the Bill wasn’t passed and the central govt. asked for a modality for implementing the Bill from the Assam government. The BJP led Assam government formed a Group of Ministers (GoM) under the leadership of Himanta Biswa Sarma, who subsequently became the Chief Minister of Assam. Sarma announced that the GoM would submit its report within six months paving the way for ST status for the six communities. But even after becoming the Chief Minister, he did nothing to get this done. Enraged by the treachery of the BJP Govt., the organisations belonging to these communities mobilised people in huge numbers and demanded ST status before the ensuing Assembly election.

Compelled by the electoral exigency, the Himanta Biswa Sarma government submitted the report of the Group of Ministers to the Assam Assembly on November 29, 2025, the last day of the session, but didn’t allow any discussion on it. Reading through the long report would reveal the utterly hollow nature of the report. The terms of reference for the GoM were:

(i) The quantum of reservation proposed for the six communities.

(ii) The quantum of reservation for OBCs after these six communities are shifted from OBC to ST list.

(iii) How to protect the interests of existing STs while the six communities are made STs.

But there is absolutely nothing about the first two points in the report. In almost seven years, the GoM hasn’t studied or surveyed the issues that were necessary for a concrete proposal. It is clear that the report was tabled in the Assembly just to pacify the agitators.

Our party’s consistent position has been to demand ST status for the six communities without affecting the existing tribals and that the process should be completed before the upcoming Assembly election.

SIR OF VOTER LIST

The Election Commission was planning to undertake Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Voter Lists before the Assembly Election in Assam. But people of the state didn’t support this idea on the basis of bitter experience during updating of NRC in the state. Our Party decided to oppose the proposed SIR and during an All-Party Meeting convened by the CEO in Guwahati on September 24, the Party submitted a memorandum opposing the SIR. The Party’s stand is that without completing the updating of NRC in Assam, there should be no SIR in the state. Several other parties were of same opinion. Finally, the Election Commission announced that the SIR wouldn’t be taken up in the state, at least for the time being, in view of the ongoing updating of the NRC.

So, instead of SIR, the Election Commission announced Special Revision (SR) in the state. But this is also being sought to be utilised for deletion of lakhs of religious minority voters in the state. BJP was tactically silent till the publication of the draft voter list on December 27, 2025. But immediately after that, as the phase of claims and objections started, BJP engineered filing of objections to the listing of lakhs of Muslim voters in the voter lists. A single BLA or BJP worker filed objections against a bulk of voters, which went up to several hundred voters. Connivance of a section of election officials with the BJP is clearly evident.

BJP has particularly targeted those constituencies where Muslim voters constitute around 35-70 per cent of electorate. They have resorted to all sorts of illegal and clandestine methods to file objections. Using ‘EPIC’ and mobile numbers of different persons BJP has filed thousands of objections without their knowledge. Subsequently when the concerned persons came to know about the false and frivolous objections of BJP miscreants, they publicly denied the so-called objections and stated in writing to the Election Commission that his on her name was unauthorisedly and surreptitiously used for filing objections. In some places, objections were filed even against the inclusion of the name of the concerned BLO in the voter list describing him as dead. Surprisingly, the Election Commission also issued notice to the BLO asking him to appear for objection hearing. It is really unfortunate that the Election Commission hasn’t verified the authenticity and rationality of the objections filed and issued hearing notices for each and every person against whom the objections are filed in bulk. As a result, minority voters had to queue up in thousands at hearing centres till night, facing inhuman conditions and untold hardship.

In Bajali Election district, 115 polling booths were listed where the BLOS are Muslims and overwhelming voters are also Muslims. Out of these, 76 polling booths belong to Bhawanipur-Sorbhog LAC, the constituency from which the CPI(M) is seeking re-election and 39 belong to Bajali LAC. For the 115 polling booths, 115 non-Muslim teachers were listed and summoned by the district authorities in a meeting arranged at District Commission’s chamber and attended by the local Minister Ranjeet Kumar Dass. The summoned teachers were asked to detect voters in these 115 booths whose names can be deleted on some pretext or other. When some teachers asked whether they would be given a formal order for that, they were told that informally they have to discharge their duties.

THE PROTEST

The CPI(M), with its limited strength did its best to fight for the genuine voters who are being targeted simply because of their religious identity. The State Committee of the Party filed a written complaint to CEO, Assam, demanding enquiry and punishment to every official responsible for the unconstitutional and illegal exercise in 115 polling booths in the Bajali District. In Nagaon, frivolous objections were filed against 46 voters under 169 polling station of 59 Barhampur LAC. The voters were falsely alleged to be dead or permanently shifted. The Party District and Local Committee immediately organised a protest meeting attended by a large number of people and submitted a memorandum to the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO). The so-called complainant also denied his involvement and termed it as a forgery. Finally, the ERO rejected all the 46 complaints. Again in the same Barhampur constituency, in polling booth no.167, frivolous objections were filed against 141 voters stating them as dead. When contacted, the so-called complainant completely denied her involvement and stated in writing that her name was unauthorisedly and unscrupulously used to file objections. A 20-member delegation led by the District CPI(M) met the election officials who subsequently rejected the objections in bulk.

In 38-Barkhetri LAC, around 10,000 objections were lodged against Muslims electors. A section of them are evicted voters. CPI(M) District and Local workers are assisting a large number of voters in properly facing the objection hearings and submitted memorandum opposing the irregularities in the hearing process. In many other places, like Barpeta (including Bhawanipur-Sorbhog LAC), Karimganj, Cachar, Goalpara Districts, etc., CPI(M) is taking an active role in defending genuine voters. Protest demonstrations were organised in several places by the Party.

The Opposition Parties including Congress, CPI(M), CPI, CPI(M-L), Raijor Dal, AJP, APHLC submitted a joint memorandum to the CEO on December 9, demanding a halt to the harassment of lakhs of genuine voters in the name of objection and objection hearing. The Parties also demanded that the Election Commission inquire about the alleged inclusion of thousands of unknown voters in the Draft Voter list. The Parties also lodged a complaint in Ajahar, Dispur Police Station against Dilip Saikia, the State President of BJP Assam, who in a video conference of District Presidents allegedly directed to arrange deletion of 5-10 thousand voters in 60 Assembly Constituencies.

On January 25, the leaders of seven opposition secular parties addressed a joint press conference and condemned the outrageous communal utterance of the Chief Minister Himanta Biswas Sarma. Defending the motivated and frivolous objections, the Chief Minister had said that when in power, he would keep on harassing the 'Miyas' (Muslims of Bengal origin).The opposition leaders commented that Himanta Biswa Sarma has no right to hold a constitutional post after spewing such communal venom. The opposition parties submitted a memorandum to the CEO, Assam, demanding stringent actions against the Chief Minister.