CPI(M) demands NRC finalisation before electoral roll revision in Assam
The party also opposed the state’s move to halt Aadhaar enrolment for adults from October.
Guwahati, Aug 26: The Communist Party of India (Marxist), Assam State Committee, has urged the Union Government and the Election Commission of India to complete the process of updating and finalizing the National Register of Citizens (NRC) before initiating the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the State.
The CPI(M) alleged that the intensive revision process, if undertaken without finalizing the NRC, could result in the exclusion of many genuine Indian citizens, particularly migrant workers, religious minorities, Dalits, women, and marginalized groups. The party pointed to recent experiences in Bihar, where nearly 65 lakh names were arbitrarily deleted from the draft rolls, as evidence of the Election Commission's "partisan role" under pressure from the ruling BJP.
The CPI(M) reiterated the supervision of the Supreme Court and published on August 31, 2019, with March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date, was meant to be a reliable document to settle the State's long-standing citizenship issue.
However, it accused both the Centre and the State BJP government of deliberately withholding its notification and refusing to recognize it as valid proof of citizenship. "For six years, the Registrar General of India has neither notified the NRC nor issued rejection slips, depriving excluded individuals of the opportunity to prove their citizenship through legal means," the Left party said.
The party further argued that proceeding with SIR be-fore completing the NRC up-date would create a faulty electoral roll in Assam. It warned that citizenship is an extremely sensitive issue in the State, and the BJP government was "spreading suspicion against minorities under the label of disenfranchising poor indigenous communities lacking proper documents."
On another front, the CPI(M) also strongly opposed the Assam Cabinet's recent decision to stop Aadhaar enrolment for individuals above 18 years from October this year. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had argued that the step would prevent illegal migrants from obtaining Indian citizenship. Dismissing the claim as "illogical," the CPI(M) pointed out that Aadhaar is not a proof of citizenship but merely an identity and address document, as clarified by both the Centre and the Supreme Court.
According to official data, about 95 per cent of Assam's population has Aadhaar, leaving an estimated 10-12 lakh adults without it. "Most of them belong to socio-economically backward and illiterate sections of society. Denying them the right to apply for Aadhaar is gross injustice”, the CPI (M) said.