Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. File. | Photo credit: ANI
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday (Jan 27, 2026) said that “four to five million Miya voters” will be wiped out when a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls takes place in the poll-bound state, drawing sharp reactions from opposition leaders.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official program in Digboi, Tinsukia district, he also insisted that his mission was to get people from Miya – a pejorative term used in Assam for Bengali-speaking Muslims, often referred to as Bangladeshis.
“Vote chori means we are trying to steal some Mija votes. Ideally they should not be allowed to vote in Assam but in Bangladesh,” the chief minister said.
“We are ensuring that they cannot vote in Assam,” he said when his attention was drawn to notices delivered to thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims during the claims and objections phase of the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of the electoral rolls.
While the Election Commission is conducting SIRs in 12 states and union territories across the country, it has designated Assam as an SR, an exercise similar to the usual electoral roll updates.
“This (SR) is tentative. When SIR comes to Assam, four to five thousand Mija votes will have to be wiped out in Assam,” the chief minister said, hinting that he did not care what his opponents thought about his intention.
“Let the Congress abuse me as it wants. My job is to make Miya people suffer,” he said, repeating his earlier statement that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government would create some “utpaat” (disturbance) for the community under the law.
Reacting to Mr. Sarma’s comments, MLA President and Dal Raijor Akhil Gogoi pointed out that people did not make him Chief Minister to keep the people of Miya under pressure.
“The chief minister has made the constitution absolutely ineffective in Assam,” Congress chief Aman Wadud said.
According to the draft electoral roll released on 27 December 2025, Assam has 2.51 million voters after 4.78 million were marked dead and 5.23 million voters were found shifted while 53,619 more entries were deleted. Polling agencies claimed 100% verification covering more than 61,000 households
On January 25, six opposition parties – Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(ML) – submitted a memorandum to the Chief Electoral Officer of the state, alleging widespread violations of law, political interference and targeted harassment of genuine voters during the SR exercise, which they claimed was “unconstitutional and unconstitutional”.
Published – 27 Jan 2026 22:28 IST
