Over 20 voters face deletion bids in Borkhola During Special Revision, locals allege false Form 7 objections

As the procedure for Special Revision comes to a conclusion, allegations of “Vote-Chori” have surfaced from various areas of Assam as well. In Cachar, tension prevailed in Masughat under Borkhola Legislative Assembly Constituency after several locals alleged that nearly 22 to 30 voters were targeted through what they described as “frivolous objections” filed to remove their names from the electoral roll.

According to the affected residents, a Booth Level Officer (BLO) visited their homes on Wednesday (January 21) between 4 pm and 5 pm to conduct enquiries and physical verification after objections were raised against their proposed inclusion in the voter list. The objections reportedly claimed that the voters were “absent” or “permanently shifted”.

However, the residents said they have been living continuously at their respective addresses and termed the objections false and baseless.

The objections were allegedly filed through Form 7 by one Mohan Lal Das, son of Arjun Das, a resident of Dudpatil Part III (Das Para) under Masughat police station. Locals claimed that multiple objections were submitted in a single day against several families from the same area.

“We were shocked when the BLO came for verification. We have never shifted from here. Still, someone marked us as absent,” said one resident.

Another local from Masughat Gram Panchayat alleged that Mohan Lal Das is the husband of a GP member and claimed that around 22 names from their group were challenged. “We do not know why he did this. We suspect there may be some political conspiracy, especially with elections approaching. So we have filed an FIR and want strict action,” he said.

A voter from the same polling station, Centre 117, also alleged that the BLO informed them that Form 7 was used to show several residents as absent. “If he can do this with 22 people, he can do it with more. We have evidence and have approached both the election officer and the police,” he claimed.

Residents stated that such objections forced genuine voters to attend hearings at distant centres, causing inconvenience and harassment. They expressed concern that failure to appear at hearings could lead to deletion of names from the electoral roll.

In a written complaint, the residents urged the authorities to take stringent action and register a case under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. They alleged that the act amounted to an attempt to deprive them of their right to vote.