CPI(M) demands finalisation of NRC before electoral roll revision in Assam

The Assam unit of the CPI(M) on August 25 asserted that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) must be finalised before any Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is undertaken in the state. 

The party also opposed the state cabinet’s decision to suspend Aadhaar enrolment for adults from October, calling Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s justification “baseless.”

CPI(M) state secretary Suprakash Talukdar said in a statement that citizenship remains a highly sensitive issue in Assam and that without a complete and updated NRC, any revision of electoral rolls would risk widespread exclusion of genuine voters. Citing the experience of Bihar, where the Election Commission deleted around 65 lakh names from the draft list of eight crore voters, Talukdar warned that minorities, migrant workers, dalits, backwards classes, and women in Assam could face similar discrimination.

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He also criticised the delay in notifying the updated NRC despite the final draft being published on August 31, 2019, arguing that its completion was necessary to provide a reliable basis for detecting illegal immigrants. “Instead, the BJP has complicated matters further with the communal and unconstitutional Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Starting SIR in Assam without first finalising NRC will make a flawless electoral roll impossible,” he said.

On the Aadhaar enrolment suspension, the CPI(M) maintained that Aadhaar is neither proof of citizenship nor linked to voting rights, as clarified by UIDAI, the Centre, and the Supreme Court. It claimed that the CM’s remark that halting enrolment would prevent foreigners from gaining citizenship was misleading. The party also disputed Sarma’s statement that Assam has 103 per cent Aadhaar coverage, pointing to UIDAI data from July 31, 2025, which put the figure at around 95 per cent.

“Nearly 10-12 lakh adults in Assam still lack Aadhaar cards, most of them poor, illiterate, and socially disadvantaged. Denying them even the opportunity to apply is grossly unjust,” the party said, demanding that the state government withdraw its decision immediately.