Assam Assembly Elections 2026 | Homes evicted, names removed from electoral rolls: Eviction victims to miss polls

Families in Kachutoli fear exclusion after eviction and voter list deletions.

Kachutoli: "See how we are living here," Majiran Nessa said as she pointed towards the muddy alley between rows of thatched and tarpaulin sheds under which 70 to 80 Bengali-speaking Muslim families have been taking shelter since September 2024, when their houses, situated less than a kilometer away were evicted by the BJP-led government in Assam.

"These sheds are blown away by the storms, there is no electricity and no drinking water," Marijna, 52, a mother of five children, told DH.

At least two villagers were killed and more than 30 others were injured in police firing after the residents allegedly clashed with the police and the officials of Kamrup metro district on September 13, 2024.

At least 950 families, all Bengali-speaking Muslims, were evicted as the land on which they lived were reserved for the tribals living in nearby villages.

Their houses, mosques and markets have been demolished and on February 21, Home Minister Amit Shah laid the foundation for a campus of an Assam police battalion on a plot, which was cleared during the drive.

Another 30 to 40 such evicted families are living along the Digaru river on the other side of the village road. Life there is almost same. But all the families are grappling with a bigger problem ahead of Assembly elections scheduled on April 9.

Names of more than 2,200 voters have been removed from the revised electoral rolls, published on February 10.

"We were barred from voting during the panchayat polls last year and now our names have been removed. The government says we are Bangladeshis, let them come and see our documents," Ibrahim Ali, a resident of Kachutoli, situated about 50km east of Guwahati, told DH. "Most of them have names in the NRC list too."

Ali claims that most of the residents are victims of erosion, who had shifted from neighbouring Morigaon district and bought land in and around Kachutoli way back in 1983 and later. "If these lands were reserved for the tribals, why did the government register those in our names?" he asked.

The revised electoral rolls was released on February 10 after a Special Revision by the Election Commision (EC). The EC said Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was not carried out in Assam, unlike in 12 states, as the NRC exercise (to detect post-1971 migrants) remained incomplete. More than 2.43 lakh names were removed from the final revised rolls and this included many victims of the evictions.

Although Chief Electoral Officer, Assam, Anurag Goyel, recently said that no names were deleted "suo moto," some of the electors were removed as "permanently shifted" and their names from the previous polling stations or constituencies were deleted. He said such electors can lodge appeal by submitting Form-6 for reinclusion of their names. But all in these camps told DH that their petitions have not yet been resolved by the district administration and so they fear to miss the ensuing polls.

Thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims, whom BJP alleges as "Miyas" or "infiltrators" from neighbouring Bangladesh, have been evicted and more than 1.5 lakh bighas of land (forests, government land and tribal belts and blocks) have been cleared under BJP-led government's eviction drive since 2021, when Himanta Biswa Sarma became the Chief Minister. Similar eviction drives were carried out in Goalpara, Dhubri, Uriamghat in Golaghat and several other places and thousands till taking shelter in similar huts. There are complaints about similar removal of names from electoral rolls in those areas too.

Sarma earlier said many had shifted to newer areas and occupied government. "These infiltrators have become a threat to demography and culture of our tribals and Hindus," Sarma had said. He had even openly asked BJP workers to lodge compliant with the EC for deleting names of the "miyas."

Golap Uddin, another camp inmate here who turned 18 a few months ago, was planning to enroll his name in the voters list for the first time. "Now that names of my parents have been deleted, I can't enroll my name either."

Vote choice:

Muslims, who constitute nearly 35 per cent of Assam's population, are considered vote bank of either Congress or Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF. But eviction victims are angry that none from the two parties came to their rescue. "Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma says Muslims don't vote for BJP. I want to request him to restore our names and let me assure him that everyone here will vote for BJP," said Hasan Ali, another resident. A BJP flag fluttered on top of a hut a few meters away. "We put up the flag to show our support to BJP."

Kachutoli was under Dispur Assembly constituency but was brought under Dimoria, a constituency newly created through the delimitation exercise in 2023. Delimitation decreased the Muslim-dominated constituencies to 22--from 30 to 35 earlier.

In the Assembly polls on April 9, main battle in Dimoria is likely to be between Bhupen Das of AGP, an ally of BJP, and Kishore Kumar Baruah of Congress.