TMC MP Sushmita Dev said the electoral process, executed hurriedly, could lead to ‘large-scale wrongful deletion’ of names
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The special revision (SR) of electoral rolls in Assam has been done “hurriedly and haphazardly”, Trinamool Congress MP Sushmita Dev said on Friday (January 23, 2026).
In a letter addressed to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the Rajya Sabha member warned that the electoral process, executed hurriedly, could lead to “large-scale wrongful deletion” of names and “denial of voting rights” to genuine citizens.
‘Extend date’
She requested the Election Commission (EC) to extend the date for hearings and disposal by another seven days to ensure that people get a fair opportunity to defend their right to vote.
“It has been seen that huge amounts of objections have been filed under Form 7 to delete the names of individuals. These Form 7 objections for deletion of names have been filed by persons in bulk, and in most cases, the complainant, who is named in the form, is either untraceable or has denied filing these forms,” Ms. Dev wrote.
She said it would be impossible to serve a notice to every person whose name has been objected to, according to the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 (Form 14), and hold a hearing before February 2.
SC observation
Ms. Dev insisted that the 19.06 lakh people, excluded from the National Register of Citizens (NRC), with no window to challenge their status, cannot be excluded from the voters’ list. She referred to the Supreme Court’s observation that until the final NRC list is notified after exhausting all legal remedies, no regressive measures can be taken against any person excluded.
The names of 10.56 lakh voters were deleted from Assam’s draft roll after the SR exercise in December last year.
Published – January 24, 2026 01:36 am IST
