Finalise NRC Before Revising Assam Voters’ List: CPI(M)
THE Election Commission of India has started the process for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across the country, starting with Bihar. The Assam state committee of CPI(M), in a statement issued on August 25, 2025, said that under present conditions, such hurried revision – on the Bihar model – will not produce an accurate voters’ list. On the contrary, many genuine citizens risk exclusion.
In Bihar, due to the Commission’s biased and partisan role, around 65 lakh names were arbitrarily deleted from the draft list of approximately 8 crore voters. It is alleged that, acting under BJP-RSS directives, the Commission has misused the revision process, failed to function as an independent constitutional body, and created hurdles for ordinary citizens by demanding documents that are difficult to produce. Migrant workers, minorities, dalits, backward classes, and women have been disproportionately affected. Even the Supreme Court has intervened, directing the Commission to ensure transparency and inclusion of all eligible citizens.
Against this background, CPI(M) asserts that in Assam the first step must be the finalisation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Completed in consonance with the Assam Accord and Supreme Court monitoring, the final NRC was published on August 31, 2019 using March 24, 1971 as the cut-off date. Yet the BJP governments at the centre and in Assam have, for dubious reasons, refused to recognise it as a citizenship document. For six years, the Registrar General of India has not notified the NRC and issued rejection slips, denying excluded persons any legal recourse.
A complete NRC, inclusive of all genuine citizens, is essential for a permanent solution to the citizenship issue in Assam and a reliable basis to detect and deport illegal immigrants. Instead, the BJP has complicated matters further with the communal and unconstitutional CAA. Starting SIR in Assam without first finalising NRC will make a flawless electoral roll impossible. Citizenship is a highly sensitive matter in Assam, and the state government has been spreading communal hatred by branding a section of religious minorities as “doubtful citizens.” Additionally, poor and marginalised groups often lack required documents, and many local youths are migrant workers outside the state – making their names vulnerable to deletion. Hence, CPI(M) demands that electoral roll revision in Assam begin only after NRC finalisation.
ON THE SUSPENSION OF AADHAAR IN ASSAM
The CPI(M) also strongly protests the state cabinet’s decision to suspend Aadhaar enrolment for those above 18 years from October. Aadhaar is an ongoing national process and not proof of citizenship, as clarified by the UIDAI, the central government, and even the Supreme Court. The chief minister’s claim that halting Aadhaar will prevent foreigners from gaining citizenship is baseless.
Further, his statement that Assam has 103 per cent Aadhaar coverage is misleading. As per the UIDAI report (July 31, 2025), about 95 per cent of Assam’s estimated population holds Aadhaar; around 10-12 lakh adults still do not have Aadhaar. Most of them are poor, illiterate, and socially disadvantaged. Denying them even the right to apply is grossly unjust. CPI(M) demands immediate withdrawal of this decision.
