SIR needed every five years to check influx: Assam CM

Amid protests seeking Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said India needs the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls every five years to check the infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals.

He cited what he called a “demographic invasion” in Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal to justify his view.

Targeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Mr. Sarma said one cannot blackmail the Supreme Court and the Election Commission of India (ECI). “There should be an SIR in the country every five years considering the demographic shift in Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar. Only then will our democracy survive and succeed,” he told journalists on Sunday (October 12, 2026).

He cited former Union Home Minister Indrajit Gupta, who, he said, told Parliament in the late 1990s that Assam’s voters’ list included the names of 30 lakh foreigners.

Mr. Sarma argued that demographic changes in the four States pointed to continuing infiltration from Bangladesh. “Assam deports infiltrators every day by following laws. If there is no SIR in the country, how can we remove the names of lakhs of foreigners from the voters’ list?” he asked.

Accusing the Congress of acting at the behest of external forces, he alleged that Mr. Gandhi was busy destroying the country’s democratic institutions by exposing them to anarchy.

“Congress is trying to blackmail all our democratic institutions by threatening the Election Commission and the Supreme Court. I challenge Rahul Gandhi to first ask all Congress governments formed during Gyanesh Kumar’s time to resign,” he said.

Mr. Sarma also dared the Congress to announce that it would not contest the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand with Mr. Kumar at the helm of the ECI.

“You (Mr. Gandhi) became the Leader of Opposition by winning elections conducted by the Election Commission. The MPs doing drama (in Delhi) also became MPs by winning elections conducted by the same Election Commission. When you win elections, EVMs are fine. When I win, EVMs are bad,” he said.

Earlier, he slammed Mr. Gandhi and the Congress for their alleged “double standard.”

“When @narendramodi Ji is elected Prime Minister, Rahul Gandhi calls it manipulation; yet his own election to Parliament and his subsequent elevation as Leader of the Opposition is beyond question,” he posted on X.