‘I’m not dead’: One person filed objections against 64 voters from same Assam booth, many tell Express they are alive and well

He was not the only one. With dozens of others receiving similar notices – many based on objections filed by the same person – the public hearings in three constituencies, Barhampur, Nagaon-Batadraba and Raha, have been put on hold.

The night before Ahmed received a notice, his neighbour, Javed Akhtar, received two such notices for hearings. One was addressed to his bedridden 80-year-old father-in-law, Ajiruddin Ahmed, who was a senior lawyer when he was younger. Again, the grounds of objection stated “death.” The other was addressed to his wife, Farhana Yasmin, which listed the grounds of objection as “shifted.”

Similarly, 77-year-old retired professor of Dhing College, Abdul Salam, who was travelling in West Bengal with his wife, learnt on Sunday that objections had been filed against both of them on the grounds that they are “dead”.

“Since we were out of station, we asked our son to go for the hearing, but he was told that we should present ourselves there before the claims and objections process ends. So we will be reaching Nagaon on Thursday and will visit the office,” he said.

Notices issued to all these individuals show that the objections were filed by the same person: One Bishal Roy. Going through the list of objections for the Nagaon-Batadraba constituency, The Indian Express found that the same individual filed objections against 64 individuals from the same polling booth. This even includes the Booth Level Officer (BLO), Nuruddin Ahmed, and his wife, on the grounds that they are dead.

“As a BLO, I do not know who this individual is. He is not among the Booth Level Agents (BLAs) of any of the political parties who have been working on the ground with me. I have only received a list from the election branch which tells us the names of the people against whom objections have been filed, and the complainer’s name,” said the BLO.

While this is the picture of one polling booth in the district, similar concerns have been raised about similar “bulk” and “false” objections being filed in other booths in the district. While this issue has been raised by minority groups, Nagaon District Commissioner Devashish Sharma said that objections against Hindus outnumber those against Muslims in Nagaon, a Muslim-majority district.

In the midst of these concerns, on Tuesday evening, Sharma, who is also the District Election Officer, issued a public notice declaring that the public hearings pertaining to three constituencies in the district – Barhampur, Nagaon-Batadraba and Raha – “are hereby placed in abeyance, in respect of complaints received from the public, until further orders”.

“The District Administration is conscious of prevailing public concerns and remains fully committed to maintaining transparency, fairness and public confidence in all electoral and administrative processes… It is reiterated that no eligible voter shall be excluded or left behind, and all lawful claims and objections shall be addressed as per the prescribed procedure,” states the public notice.

It also warns of action under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, against people filing false complaints. “Members of the public are strongly cautioned that the submission of false, misleading or vexatious complaints constitutes serious misuse of the grievance redressal mechanism and contributes to avoidable public confusion or disorder,” it stated.

Sharma said the primary reason for placing the public hearings at abeyance in these constituencies was insufficient infrastructure in the small hearing centres to support the large number of people lining up for hearings. He said they will resume once the facilities are improved.

Acknowledging the concerns regarding bulk and false objections, he said, “The election commission allows for anyone to file objections, and we have to verify them. There may be agents of political parties, but in many cases, it could also be overzealous individuals and those trying to settle personal scores. The verification of the objections is happening, and we have issued a warning that those raising false objections will be punished.”

Imtiaz Hussain, president of the All Assam Minority Students’ Union, whose leaders had submitted their concerns to the Nagaon DC, said, “The Nagaon order is an admission that there are flaws in the process. We are submitting memoranda on this across all districts expressing our concerns.”

On Wednesday evening, the DC of the North Assam district of Lakhimpur also took cognisance of these concerns and issued a notice similar to that from the Nagaon district administration.

“During the Special Revision of Electoral Rolls in Lakhimpur district, allegations are being made in general that a single individual has submitted multiple objections against multiple voters. Such practice is not valid in terms of the provisions of the Representation of the People’s Act 1950,” the notice states, reiterating that action will be taken if such “false, misleading, or vexatious” objections are established.

An official with the office of the Chief Election Office said that the issue was discussed on Tuesday with the Nagaon DC following a state-level meeting with representatives of political parties, after which the order was issued.

“Because of such concerns about fraudulent complaints, seven Electoral Roll Observers who are senior IAS officers are in the field talking to local representatives of all political parties at the district level to understand ground realities and to oversee that all processes are being conducted as they should be. There are seven such Electoral Roll Officers, who have been allotted five districts each,” said the official.

Ahead of assembly polls this year, Assam is currently undergoing a Special Revision (SR) of the electoral rolls – a modified version of summary revision in which the key component was house-to-house visits by BLOs to conduct physical verification of the voters in the existing lists. Based on these, 4,78,992 deceased electors have been identified for deletion; and 5,23,680 “shifted” voters and 53,619 duplicate entries were identified for correction by BLOs. Currently, a claims and objections process is ongoing, during which the necessary corrections, deletions and objections will be made.

Individuals can also object to the inclusion of an individual in the electoral roll on the grounds that they have passed away or no longer live in the area of that polling station, on the basis of which a hearing is conducted.

An individual can file an application for the deletion of a name by filling and submitting the Election Commission’s Form 7. According to the guidelines for this form, the application can be made by anyone who is an existing voter from the same constituency. Among the details they need to furnish while filling the form are their name, EPIC number and their mobile number or that of a relative. They have to select one of the grounds for objection from among ‘death’, ‘underage’, ‘absent/permanently shifted’, ‘already enrolled’ or ‘not an Indian citizen’. They also have to sign a declaration that they are aware that if the submission they are making is knowingly false, they are liable for imprisonment for up to a year or a fine, or both. These forms can be filled out and submitted online on the ECI website or the Voter Helpline app.

The period for filing claims and objections will end on Thursday, and these have to be disposed of by February 2, after which a final list will be published on February 10.