'NRC First, Then SIR': ECI Confirms Assam's Exclusion From Nationwide Exercise

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the second phase of its nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls beginning Tuesday, but one state has been strikingly left out — Assam. Despite being governed by the BJP and headed for Assembly elections by April 2026, Assam does not figure among the 12 states where the voter roll revision will take place. The silence around its exclusion has triggered political speculation, especially given the state’s long and turbulent history with questions of citizenship and identity.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said the decision was driven by “exceptional circumstances” in Assam. He clarified that citizenship verification in the state is still being monitored by the Supreme Court under provisions of the Citizenship Act that are unique to Assam. “Under the Citizenship Act, there are separate provisions for Assam. Under the supervision of the Supreme Court, the checking of citizenship there is about to be completed. The June 24 SIR order was for the entire country. Under such circumstances, this would not have applied to Assam,” he said. Kumar did, however, assure that a separate announcement for the revision of Assam’s electoral roll would be made in due course, though he stopped short of offering any timeline.

Assam’s exclusion stands out for another reason. Three other major states — West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala — along with the Union Territory of Puducherry, all of which go to polls next year, are already part of the SIR exercise. The move has now opened the door to political controversy, with critics arguing that the Election Commission is bending to political pressure in a state where the BJP has a deeply invested electoral interest. The issue is expected to become a major flashpoint in the coming months, especially after the Commission faced heavy opposition criticism during the SIR drive in Bihar, which was accused of facilitating targeted deletions from voter rolls.

The unresolved status of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) lies at the heart of this electoral uncertainty. Assam is the only state in India to have completed an NRC update aimed at identifying undocumented immigrants. However, since the final supplementary NRC list was published on August 31, 2019, leaving nearly 19 lakh people in limbo, the process has remained stalled without official notification. According to a report by a national media outlet on July 15, Assam government officials have already conveyed to the Election Commission that they prefer to conduct the voter list revision only after the NRC is formally published. The ECI, it is learnt, has yet to take a final decision on whether Assam will be clubbed with the first phase of SIR or pushed to a separate timeline altogether.

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