CPI(M) flags ‘verbal’ order to survey voters in Assam district

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has flagged the “verbal” survey of voters across 115 Muslim-majority polling booths in western Assam’s Bajali district.

In a letter on Friday (January 2, 2026), the Left Front constituent drew the attention of the State’s Chief Electoral Officer to a “serious and alleged violation” of the special revision process of electoral rolls in Bajali.

Suprakash Talukdar, Secretary of the party’s Assam State Committee, said the Bajali District Commissioner convened a meeting of officials associated with the electoral process after the draft electoral roll was published on December 27, 2025. He said Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Ranjeet Kumar Dass attended the meeting with mostly school teachers.

“It is learnt that during this meeting the District Commissioner verbally directed these government servants to conduct a ‘survey’ or verification of voters in 115 polling booths of Bajali district (76 booths in 21-Bhawanipur-Sorbhog LAC and 39 Booths in 26-Bajali LAC) dominated by voters belonging to the Muslim community,” Mr. Talukdar said.

LAC expands to the Legislative Assembly Constituency.

“Significantly, no formal written order or official communication was issued by the District Commissioner authorising such verification or survey in those booths. What is extremely objectionable and unacceptable is that these instructions were specifically issued for polling booths where the officially appointed Booth Level Officers [BLOs] are Muslims,” he said.

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A list of these polling booths with the names of the appointed BLOs was attached to the letter.

Mr. Talukdar also said the government servants sought written orders to survey the voters, but their request was reportedly ignored.

The CPI(M) said directing other government servants to carry out voter verification, bypassing the BLOs appointed under the rules of the Election Commission, amounted to the gross violation of the prescribed special revision procedure.

“If the allegations are found to be true, stringent action should be taken against the erring officials to uphold the credibility, impartiality, and constitutional mandate of the Election Commission, and to ensure that the special revision process in Assam is conducted in a fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory manner,” the party said.