SR disposal process ends; final voter list due on Feb 10

Guwahati: The disposal of claims and objections filed during the Special Revision of the electoral roll was concluded on Wednesday, following a two-day extension requested by two to three districts due to a higher volume of claims and objections.

The draft electoral roll was published in Dec last year after a door-to-door verification was conducted by booth-level officers (BLOs) from Nov 22 to Dec 20.


The Election Commission of India (ECI) provided a time frame from Dec 27 last year to Jan 22 for filing claims and objections regarding the inclusion of names in the draft roll. Thereafter, the ECI began hearing the claims and objections and the process was nearing completion by Feb 2.

“However, the time period for disposal was extended by two days following the request of two to three districts, including Cachar, due to their heavy burden of claims and objections. This extension ended on Wednesday,” the source added.

The final electoral roll is slated to be published on Feb 10.

Meanwhile, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the media in Sonari on Wednesday that Special Intensive Revision (SIR) will take place in Assam after the assembly elections. The elections to the 126-member House are likely to be held in March-April.

“Special Revision is currently taking place in the state. SIR will take place in the state after the elections are over and the exercise will go on for a long duration. We requested the Election Commission of India to conduct the SIR now; but the ECI has conducted the SR since the NRC has not yet been published. We would welcome it if the ECI goes for the SIR here,” he added.

It may be mentioned that on Jan 28, Sarma, while speaking to the media in Sivasagar, said BJP workers had filed more than five lakh objections to the inclusion of names of Bangladesh-origin migrant Muslims in the electoral roll during the SR.

He had asserted that filing complaints during the SR was a national responsibility of the Assamese community. “It’s not only BJP’s responsibility, but of every political party and organisation. But unfortunately, other parties did not file any complaint and are trying to show that there is no Bangladeshi. But BJP is against foreigners and it works like what it says,” he had said.