Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has asserted that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is indirectly supporting the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Assam. Sarma made this claim in response to Gandhi's recent remarks concerning alleged irregularities in voter rolls in Karnataka's Mahadevapura assembly constituency.

Gandhi had claimed significant discrepancies in the voter rolls of the Mahadevapura constituency, including a large number of fake, duplicate, and bulk voters, along with invalid addresses and misuse of Form 6. He alleged that over one lakh votes in the area were compromised, citing specific instances such as 11,965 duplicate voters, 40,009 voters with fake or invalid addresses, 10,452 bulk voters using a single address, 4,132 voters with invalid photos, and 33,692 cases of misuse of Form 6 for new voters. Gandhi also accused the BJP and the Election Commission of colluding in a "vote chori model" and called for judicial intervention.

Sarma argues that Gandhi's observations about irregularities in Karnataka's voter lists inadvertently bolster the case for SIR in Assam. According to Sarma, the SIR is necessary to remove the names of "Bangladeshis" from the voter list in Assam. He stated that the issues Gandhi raised, such as duplicate names and invalid addresses, are also prevalent in Assam's electoral rolls. He claimed that names of deceased persons are still present in the Assam electoral rolls. Sarma also suggested that the problems extend beyond Assam, affecting states like Kerala, Delhi and Bihar.

Sarma emphasized the importance of linking Aadhaar numbers to voter IDs to prevent duplicate entries. He stated that a revision exercise is necessary in Assam to remove the names of what he called "Bangladeshis" from the voter list.

In response to Gandhi's allegations, election officials have requested that he provide a sworn affidavit with evidence to support his claims of voter fraud. The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has stated that the electoral rolls were prepared transparently and shared with the Congress party in August and September 2024, during which time the party did not raise any objections. The CEO also sent a letter to Rahul Gandhi requesting the names of alleged ineligible voters.