Assam Congress To Train 29,000 Booth Agents To Check Against Voter List Manipulation

As opposition parties continue their protests against the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, called the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the Assam Congress is preparing a strategy to counter any voter list manipulation as the state gears up to hold a similar exercise ahead of polls next year. 

Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi on Wednesday announced a two-week-long campaign titled "Vote Chore, Gaddi Chore" aimed at combating voter fraud in the state. The Congress leader said the party has started training of around 29,000 Booth Level Agents. 

The campaign will begin Thursday with statewide candlelight marches. 

In its second phase, from August 24 to 30, party representatives and agents from all 28,800 polling booths in Assam will be invited to various locations to receive exclusive training on preventing voter theft, fraud, and misrepresentation.

"We have started a training programme for the BLAs. We concluded the first round of training two days ago. By August-end, we will hold a week-long training programme in 35 districts. In the first module, we are briefing them on how voter list manipulation has been undertaken in Maharashtra and in Karnataka. We will share the evidence that Rahul Gandhi's team has provided," Mr Gogoi told reporters at Jorhat today.

Mr Gogoi added that the booth-level training is aimed to equip booth-level workers with the skills needed to safeguard the electoral process. 

The campaign ends on August 31 with a mega workers' meet themed "Vote Chore, Gaddi Chore - Choki Erok" in Dibrugarh.

Mr Gogoi said that the Congress is also preparing its legal team to help BLAs to file claims and objections at a later stage. 

Meanwhile, official sources said that preparation for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Assam has been initiated and training for booth level officers (BLO) will take place within a week. 

Earlier, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma higjlighted that in some places the names of dead persons and married women are there in voters' list and SIR will help correct that. 

"In Assam in char areas (riverine) and some other areas, even dead people's names are there in the voter list in large numbers. They do not delete it. Even married daughters' names are there. The voting percentage in these areas is around 100 per cent. Once SIR comes and voter list names are linked with Aadhaar, this problem will be solved," said Mr Sarma.