Evicted people's names to be removed from local voter rolls: CM Himanta

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said the names of people evicted from encroached land will be deleted from the voters' list of the place where they were living illegally.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme in Margherita in Tinsukia, Sarma claimed the previous generation of the state failed to "save" lower and central Assam, but efforts must be made to "save" upper and northern parts, in an apparent reference to the sizeable population of Bengali-speaking Muslims in those areas.

"If someone is evicted from a place, their name cannot be on the voter list of that place. Along with eviction, names will be deleted from the voter list," he said.

"Their modus operandi is to enter upper and northern Assam now. Our attempt is to ensure that, like lower and central Assam, these parts are not gone. We and our previous generation failed to save lower and central Assam, but we are now trying to save upper and northern Assam," he added.

Sarma had earlier said that till July 15, 1,19,548 bigha (160 sq km) of land was cleared of encroachment after he took over as the chief minister in May 2021, affecting about 50,000 people.

The chief minister had earlier claimed that the state was witnessing "invasion" from people of "one religion", who are allegedly encroaching on land to alter its demography.

Asked if his government was planning any eviction drive in Margherita, Sarma said the process has already started.

"I have held a discussion with the district commissioner and the superintendent of police. The people who have come from outside and have no link here, those people will be evicted. The process has started," he said.

He claimed that "10,000-12,000 unknown people have gradually entered Margherita", located on the eastern-most tip of upper Assam.

On objections in granting land rights in tribal areas of Margherita, Sarma said Moran, Mottock, Ahom, Gorkha, Koch-Rajbongshi and other such communities have been given 'patta' as they have been residing here for long and "they are not our enemy".

He said land rights will be granted to the people of these communities in places where they have been living for a long time.