Sivasagar (Assam), Jan 28 (PTI) Stating that "Bangladeshi Miyas" live in Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said more than five lakh complaints have been filed by BJP workers during the Special Revision (SR) process against such "foreigners".
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official function at Demow in Sivasagar district, Sarma said the "unknown people" have now gone from here, and are living in several Upper Assam districts where no such "suspected people" used to live five years ago.
"We all in Assam know that Bangladeshi Miyas have come. If none of them get notice in SR, it will mean that there is not a single foreigner in Assam," he added.
'Miya' is originally a pejorative term used for Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam and the non-Bengali speaking people generally identify them as Bangladeshi immigrants. In recent years, activists from the community have started adopting this term as a gesture of defiance.
"That is why BJP workers have filed complaints if they doubted someone as a foreigner and the government or the Election Commission will examine that. But if we don't file any complaint, then tomorrow people will question why there was not a single complaint if there were foreigners," Sarma said.
He asserted that filing complaints during the SR is a national responsibility of the Assamese community.
"It's not only the BJP's responsibility, but of every political party. But unfortunately, other parties did not file any complaint and are trying to show that there is no Bangladeshi. But the BJP is against foreigners and it works like what it says.
"That is why our workers have filed more than five lakh complaints. Otherwise, everyone would have become our nationals. At least, the BJP has tried to protect Assam and show that Assamese people have not surrendered yet," the CM said.
Assam has registered a 1.35 per cent increase in voters as per the integrated draft electoral roll for the state, published on December 30 after Special Revision was conducted ahead of the Assembly elections.
Sarma also claimed that "Bangladeshi Miyas" have ventured into different districts of Upper Assam in recent years.
"People of Duliajan complained to me that Bangladeshi Miyas have entered there. It is there in Margherita also. You have seen our eviction drive at Sarupathar in Golaghat. Till around five years back, Upper Assam was protected. But now slowly, this security is not seen," he added.
The BJP leader claimed that in Tinsukia district, "unknown people" are buying more lands and Hindus are selling more lands.
"Once upon a time, we used to think that Tinsukia was inhabited by Hindi and Bengali speaking people. But there too, these unknown Bangladeshi Miyas have come. So, no place and no district in Assam is safe in today's time," he added.
The draft roll after the SR reflected a total of 2,52,01,624 electors. A total of 7,86,841 additions and 4,47,196 deletions have taken place from January 6 to December 27 last year.
During the SR process, 4,78,992 deceased electors and 5,23,680 shifted electors were identified. Another 53,619 multiple entries were identified.
The Election Commission, however, said that these names have not yet been deleted. These will only be processed for removal or shifting after formal applications are received during the current claims and objections period.
Claims and objections can be filed from December 27 to January 22 with special campaign dates fixed for January 3-4 and January 10-11. The final electoral roll will be published on February 10, 2026.