Over 91,000 D-voters remain on Assam electoral rolls, Sonitpur records highest: Himanta

Assam currently has 91,385 'D-voters' (doubtful voters) in its electoral rolls, with Sonitpur district recording the highest number, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma informed the Assam Legislative Assembly on Monday, July 13.

Replying to a question by Congress MLA Nurul Islam, Sarma said Sonitpur has 13,719 D-voters, followed by Barpeta (8,081), while Udalguri and Nagaon each have more than 7,800 such voters.

The chief minister said the process of marking voters as 'D' (Doubtful) has been in place in Assam since 1997, in accordance with directives issued by the Election Commission of India, to identify voters with disputed or doubtful citizenship credentials.

Responding in his capacity as the minister in charge of the Home and Political Department, Sarma said 56,728 D-voters have been declared foreigners by Foreigners' Tribunals (FTs). In addition, the Gauhati High Court has upheld the foreigner status of 831 individuals who had challenged the tribunal's decision.

At the same time, he said 65,171 D-voters have been declared Indian citizens by the Foreigners' Tribunals, while the Gauhati High Court and the Supreme Court have recognised 42 and three individuals, respectively, as Indian citizens.

Replying to another question by Congress MLA Wazed Ali Choudhury, Sarma said Assam had 1,99,596 D-voters when the category was first introduced in 1997.

He informed the House that 2,44,144 D-voter cases have so far been referred to the Foreigners' Tribunals, of which 2,05,659 cases have been disposed of, resulting in 56,728 people being declared foreigners.

Apart from D-voter cases, the Border Police have referred 1,90,657 suspected foreigner cases to the tribunals. Of these, 1,55,490 cases have been disposed of, with 1,15,945 individuals declared foreigners.

Sarma further said 31,789 declared foreigners have been expelled from Assam.

The concept of D-voters was introduced exclusively in Assam by the Election Commission in 1997. Individuals marked as D-voters are barred from voting until their citizenship is determined by the Foreigners' Tribunals and, where applicable, higher courts.