- Himanta Biswa Sarma criticised Rahul Gandhi for alleged hypocrisy on voter list revisions
- Sarma accused Gandhi of indirectly supporting the Election Commission's special revision drive
- He highlighted issues of duplicate and fake voter entries, including names of deceased individuals
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has taken sharp digs at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Responding to Mr Gandhi's comments regarding voter list revisions, Mr Sarma accused him of hypocrisy and indirectly backing the Election Commission's special intensive revision drive.
"Rahul Gandhi is talking about special revision, linking names with Aadhaar, and removing duplicate entries. But if you look closely, you'll find names of people who once migrated from Bangladesh, our 'Miya Muslim' brothers, listed in Barpeta, Guwahati, Kerala, and even abroad," Mr Sarma said.
He referred to the issue as a "disease" of duplicate and fake voter entries, adding, "Even dead people's names still appear in village voter lists. This is a long-standing problem that the Election Commission is trying to address. In a way, Rahul Gandhi has endorsed the Election Commission's efforts."
The Assam Chief Minister also criticised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over her recent statements opposing the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
"Who asked her to obey the NRC? Suddenly, she says, 'I will not obey Biden.' Did Biden ask her to obey him?" Mr Sarma said sarcastically.
"No one has ordered NRC now. She is using this rhetoric to create fear among Bengali people and secure votes. For the past five years, she has remained silent on NRC. Now that elections are approaching, she has started speaking about it again," he said.
