Himanta Biswa Sarma dares Congress to resign in three states before seeking ballot papers

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has challenged the Congress leadership to resign from state governments in Kerala, Karnataka, and Telangana if it genuinely wants Indian elections conducted on paper ballots.

Speaking at a press conference in Guwahati on Monday, Sarma addressed the opposition INDIA bloc's protests against electronic voting machines and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. He argued that if the opposition believes election outcomes are tainted, it cannot selectively accept mandates where it won while attacking the integrity of the voting system everywhere else.

The challenge over paper ballots

Sarma stated that he is entirely prepared to hold fresh assembly polls in Assam using paper ballots, provided Congress leaders match their rhetoric with administrative sacrifice.

"I am ready to contest on the ballot paper if Rahul Gandhi and Congress are ready for their governments' resignations," Sarma said. "The Kerala, Karnataka, and Telangana governments must resign because those governments were also formed through 'vote chori' under Gyanesh Kumar."

Sarma questioned why the opposition accepted the results that saw Rahul Gandhi elected to the Lok Sabha as Leader of the Opposition under the exact same electoral setup. He also challenged Congress leaders to publicly declare whether they would boycott upcoming assembly elections scheduled across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur, and Uttarakhand if those polls take place under Kumar's tenure using electronic voting machines.

Voter roll revisions defended as national security priority

Sarma vigorously defended the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, framing it as an essential administrative mechanism to protect national stability and sovereignty. He maintained that periodic clean-ups of voter registries prevent unauthorised foreign nationals from exerting unlawful political influence.

"The SIR is needed in India. Assam, West Bengal, and Jharkhand's demography changed due to huge illegal immigration," Sarma said. "Illegal immigration is taking place every day, and if we cannot delete their names from the voter list, India's demography will change. I demand that there should be an SIR every five years. Only then will Indian democracy be saved."

Sarma dismissed the opposition's street demonstrations as an artificial campaign disconnected from wider public sentiment, claiming the protests in Delhi struggled to gather more than a few thousand participants.

Opposition march to the Supreme Court

The Chief Minister's remarks came as INDIA bloc leaders, headed by Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, marched towards the Supreme Court in New Delhi to register objections against the electoral roll verification process and demand the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner.

The demonstration followed an earlier stance by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, who declined a private meeting with opposition figures and instructed them to approach the bench exclusively through appropriate judicial channels because the underlying legal matters were already pending before the court. A small legal delegation from the opposition was subsequently permitted into court premises to submit its formal petition.