Staff Reporter
DIMAPUR, OCT 30 (NPN): Dimapur District Congress Committee (DDCC) on Friday claimed that more than 65,000 voters had been deleted from electoral rolls in Dimapur and Chümoukedima districts following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Addressing a press conference at Congress Bhavan here, DDCC president Kutoho Chishi said the five Assembly constituencies in the two districts had recorded a substantial decline in voter numbers. According to figures shared by him, Dimapur-I, II and III had a combined 1,25,703 voters before the revision, which fell to 89,074 afterwards — a reduction of 36,629. In Ghaspani-I and II, the number declined from 1,09,941 to 81,313, with 28,628 voters deleted.
Chishi described the deletions as an “insult to citizens” and said removal of genuine voters in the name of SIR was unacceptable.
Questioning the BJP-led government at the Centre, he alleged that the exercise was being used to pursue a policy of “duplication” and maintained that genuine voting rights should not be taken away. He said SIR had remained a concern for people for the past 20 years and argued that the exercise should not be implemented in Nagaland in its present form.
Appealing to affected voters not to panic, Chishi said the Congress would assist those facing discrepancies in the electoral rolls. He urged them to approach the party and its booth-level agents (BLAs), while appealing to booth level officers (BLOs) and election officials to accept complaints from genuine voters.
He also raised concern over the demand for documents such as birth certificates, saying the requirement could particularly affect genuine voters aged 70 to 80 who did not possess the necessary records.
Meanwhile, AICC SIR observer Banna Gupta alleged large-scale irregularities in the ongoing revision of electoral rolls in Nagaland and other parts of the country, accusing the BJP-led government of using the exercise to influence electoral outcomes.
Gupta said the AICC had formed a nationwide team of observers to examine alleged irregularities, adding that his visit to Nagaland was part of the initiative.
Citing the state’s electorate of around 13.57 lakh, he alleged that a large number of names had been deleted and that the exercise was being used to weaken particular vote banks.
“Earlier they used to form governments through EVMs. When they started losing in several states, they hatched a well-planned conspiracy in the name of SIR to break this democracy,” he alleged.
While acknowledging that SIR was intended to update electoral rolls, Gupta accused the BJP of pursuing political interests through the exercise. He said the Congress, under Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and K.C. Venugopal, was fighting to protect democracy.
Gupta announced that the Congress would hold a protest against what he termed the “dictatorial government” at the Red Fort in New Delhi on November 1, under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership.
He also alleged “vote theft”, citing Rahul Gandhi’s claims that some houses had as many as 300 to 400 voters registered and that foreign nationals had allegedly been enrolled.