New Delhi: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday (January 27) said that between “four to five lakh Miya voters” would be removed from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in the state. He also underlined that “Himanta Biswa Sarma and the BJP are directly against Miyas” and urged people to “trouble” Miyas saying “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam”.Addressing reporters on the sidelines of an official event in Digboi in Tinsukia district, Sarma asserted that it was his responsibility to cause hardship to the Miya community, a term commonly used in Assam to refer to Bengali-speaking Muslims in a derogatory sense.“Vote chori means we are trying to steal some Miya votes. They should ideally not be allowed to vote in Assam, but in Bangladesh,” the chief minister said.“We are ensuring that they cannot vote in Assam,” he added, responding to questions about notices issued to thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims during the claims and objections phase of the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls.While the Election Commission is conducting the SIR of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union Territories, Assam has been placed under a SR exercise, which resembles routine updates to the rolls. Referring to this distinction, Sarma said, “This [SR] is preliminary. When the SIR comes to Assam, four to five lakh Miya votes will have to be deleted in Assam,” signalling that he was unconcerned about criticism from political opponents.“Let Congress abuse me as much as they want. My job is to make the Miya people suffer,” he said, reiterating earlier remarks that the BJP-led government would create ‘utpaat’ (disturbances) for the community while remaining within the bounds of the law.Sarma made similar statements later on Tuesday evening.Also read: Will Continue to Disturb the ‘Miyas’ to ‘Tame Them’, Says Assam CM: Report“Whichever complaints have happened have been on my orders. I myself have told the BJP people that they should keep giving complaints against Miyas. There is nothing to hide about this. I have held meetings, I have done video conferences, and I have told people that, wherever possible, they should fill Form 7s. So that they have to run around a little, are troubled, so that they understand that the Assamese people are still living. If the Congress has objections, so be it,” Sarma told reporters.He added: “Whoever can give trouble in any way should give, including you. In a rickshaw, if the fare is Rs 5, give them Rs 4. Only if they face troubles will they leave Assam… These are not issues. Himanta Biswa Sarma and the BJP are directly against Miyas. What is the point of telling us that these are issues? We are saying it openly; we are not hiding it. Earlier, people were scared; now I myself am encouraging people to keep giving troubles. If you don’t trouble them, yesterday I found that they have even reached Duliajan (a town in Eastern Assam). So you all should also trouble, and you should not do news that sympathise with them. There will be love jihad in your own house.”Opposition leaders responded sharply to the chief minister’s comments. Raijor Dal president and MLA Akhil Gogoi said that the people of Assam had not elected Sarma to keep the Miya community under constant pressure.Congress leader Aman Wadud accused the chief minister of rendering the constitution ineffective in the state, saying, “The chief minister has made the constitution absolutely ineffective in Assam.”As per the draft electoral rolls published on December 27, Assam currently has 2.51 crore voters, after 4.78 lakh names were marked as deceased, 5.23 lakh were recorded as having shifted, and 53,619 duplicate entries were removed. Election authorities have claimed that verification was completed for over 61 lakh households, amounting to full coverage.On January 25, six opposition parties – Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI, CPI(M), and CPI(M-L) – submitted a memorandum to the state’s chief electoral officer. In it, they alleged extensive legal violations, political interference, and the selective targeting of genuine voters during the SR exercise, which they described as “arbitrary, unlawful, and unconstitutional”.