GUWAHATI, June 26 � Calling for inclusion of post-1971 voters lists, including the 2014 voters list as additional documents for citizenship status in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) updating process, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said that the State government is not at all responsible for preparation of voters lists or the NRC which is a responsibility of the Election Commission of India.
�We do not prepare voters lists, it is done by the Election Commission � an independent constitutional body. It is the EC�s responsibility to prepare voters lists and update the NRC with names of genuine Indian citizens,� Gogoi said at a press conference.
Going a step further, the Chief Minister claimed that in no way could the State government be held responsible for inclusion of any illegal foreigner�s name in the voters list.
�The EC will say if there are names of illegal migrants in voters lists. The Assam government is in no way responsible for names of illegal foreigners, if any, in the voters lists,� he said.
The Chief Minister also criticized those finding fault with the existing voters lists, saying that rather than holding the State government responsible for the alleged anomalies, they would do well to take up the matter with the EC.
�Political parties, like the BJP, and the Assam Governor should approach the EC if they feel the voters lists are faulty. It is the EC which can rectify it,� he added.
On the issue of D-voters, the Chief Minister said that the issue emerged following intensive revision of the electoral rolls in 1997. �Initially there were 18 lakh �D� voters whose citizenship status required verification. About 13.5 lakh names were removed from the �D� voters list after verification and 2.2 lakh cases were referred to the tribunals. As on October 15, 2014, a total of 1,41,733 cases of �D� voters are pending,� he said.
