Guwahati: The All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) has escalated the debate over citizenship and voting rights in Assam, urging the Election Commission of India (EC) to ensure that names included in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) are duly reflected in the final electoral rolls, while warning against the premature deletion of voters excluded from the NRC.
In a detailed memorandum submitted to the EC, the students’ body asserted that Assam remains the only state where an NRC exercise has been conducted, making the issue uniquely sensitive.
AAMSU argued that excluding NRC-included individuals from the voters’ list would render the entire NRC process meaningless.
At the same time, it demanded that those left out of the NRC must not be removed from electoral rolls until they have exhausted all available legal remedies.
Highlighting the legal status of the NRC, AAMSU pointed out that although the final list was published in 2019 excluding 19,06,657 persons, it has not been formally notified by the Registrar General of India. As a result, the organisation contended, the NRC lacks statutory validity and cannot be used as the sole basis for determining voting rights.
The memorandum, signed by AAMSU president Imtiaz Hussan and general secretary Minnatul Islam, also raised concerns over what it termed “serious anomalies” in the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls ahead of the 2026 Assam Assembly elections. The organisation warned that procedural lapses could lead to large-scale disenfranchisement of genuine voters if not addressed urgently.
AAMSU further alleged that public statements by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and other ruling party leaders on deleting the names of people evicted from land amount to interference in the electoral process, arguing that eviction alone is not a legally valid ground for removal from voter lists. It also accused certain election officials of obstructing genuine applicants—particularly those affected by land evictions—from submitting Form 8, which is required for corrections such as a change of residence.
Calling for immediate corrective steps, the students’ body urged the EC to restrain political leaders from influencing the Special Revision through public remarks or administrative pressure. It also sought strict directions to field officials to stop rejecting bulk objections without individual hearings and to ensure that applicants are not subjected to harassment during verification.
Emphasising the need for transparency and fairness, AAMSU appealed to the EC to issue clear and uniform instructions to all officials involved in the Special Revision, stressing that electoral purity must go hand in hand with the protection of citizens’ voting rights.
According to official figures, Assam’s Special Revision exercise has so far recorded an electorate of 2,51,09,754, excluding doubtful voters. A total of 10,56,291 names have been deleted for reasons including death, change of residence and multiple enrolments. The revision process aims to create an error-free voters’ list by enrolling eligible citizens, correcting clerical mistakes, removing deceased voters, updating residential changes and eliminating duplicate entries.
Following the publication of the Integrated Draft Electoral Roll on December 27, the window for filing claims and objections remains open.
The Election Commission is scheduled to publish the final voters’ list on February 10, a deadline now shadowed by mounting political and legal scrutiny over who gets to vote in Assam.