The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union Territories as part of its ongoing nationwide voter verification and cleansing exercise. Among the states covered are poll-bound regions like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. Assam, though it has assembly elections scheduled in 2026, was not included in the list of states to undergo SIR next.
A state-wide SIR was recently completed in Bihar, where assembly elections are currently underway with the new, updated electoral roll.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, while addressing a press conference on October 27, 2025, clarified that Assam’s case is legally distinct from all other Indian states. He pointed out that citizenship verification in Assam operates under separate provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955, and the Assam Accord of 1985, which introduced Section 6A to the law. This section explicitly defines who qualifies as an Indian citizen in Assam, a framework different from the rest of the country.
#WATCH | Phase 2 of SIR | On Assam not included in the second phase of SIR, CEC Gyanesh Kumar says, "Under India's 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… pic.twitter.com/NoeqZ5x6DY
— ANI (@ANI) October 27, 2025
As per Section 6A, immigrants who entered Assam before January 1, 1966, are deemed Indian citizens, while those who entered between January 1, 1966, and March 25, 1971, can become citizens only after fulfilling stringent criteria. Those entering after March 25, 1971, are to be considered illegal migrants. These provisions are unique to Assam, given its long-standing demographic anxieties and cross-border migration from Bangladesh. Therefore, a blanket SIR similar to Bihar or Bengal would directly clash with the state’s special citizenship mechanism and the ongoing, Supreme Court-monitored NRC process.
Kumar emphasized that a special order for Assam would be issued separately once the citizenship verification exercise under NRC nears completion. The logic is clear: conducting an SIR in Assam right now would mean a duplication of effort, potential double-deletions, and interference with the apex court’s timeline.
Why Assam is a legal outlier
The NRC in Assam ordered by the Supreme Court in 2013 has already excluded over 19 lakh individuals as “doubtful citizens.” However, appeals and re-verifications are still pending. The citizenship status of many remains legally unresolved. If the ECI were to simultaneously carry out a nationwide SIR in Assam, it could inadvertently remove or include names that are still under judicial consideration.
This is not merely an administrative inconvenience; it’s a constitutional minefield. The Election Commission cannot legally preempt or contradict the Supreme Court’s ongoing supervision of the NRC. Hence, the ECI’s prudence in holding back Assam’s SIR until a special order is issued is not just logical, it’s mandatory.
The Leftist U-Turn: Outrage for hire
But predictably, this pragmatic and legally sound decision has triggered another wave of selective outrage from the usual suspects in the left-liberal ecosystem that never misses an opportunity to politicize the ECI.
In Bihar and West Bengal, the same cabal comprising the likes of Mahua Moitra, Yogendra Yadav, Manoj Jha, and NGOs like People’s Union for Civil Liberties and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) had vehemently opposed the SIR. They had filed petitions in the Supreme Court earlier this year, arguing that the exercise was a conspiracy to “disenfranchise” large numbers of voters.
The Supreme Court, however, dismissed their plea, calling it a mere case of “trust deficiency.” The court reaffirmed that the SIR was a routine constitutional exercise meant to remove bogus voters, duplicates, and deceased persons, nothing more.
Yet, when the ECI decided not to conduct SIR in Assam this time, the same leftists and opposition leaders suddenly discovered a new outrage. Yogendra Yadav, who once wanted the ECI restrained, now wonders why the SIR is not being conducted in Assam. DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai accused the ECI of turning into a “citizenship-finding unit.” Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed called the ECI’s NRC-related explanation an “excuse.”
It is almost comical how quickly the narrative flips. When the ECI works to update the voter list in Bihar, it is bad. But it is suddenly wanted to interfere in an ongoing SC-monitored NRC process because the Secular-Liberal lobby thinks the chaos and confusion will provide them with further fuel to spread misinformation and vilify democratic institutions.
The Election Commission’s job is to keep the electoral roll updated and make sure that anyone dead, migrated out, or ineligible is not in the voter list. The ECI’s function is not to detect and deport illegal immigrants, issue citizenships, or examine the validity and legality of citizenships. In Bihar SIR, approximately 6.5 million voters were removed from the list. However, not all the names removed were illegal immigrants. Those removed included voters who died, those who failed to prove that they are citizens of India, those who permanently migrated to other places, and those voters who were present in more than one list.
The Opposition’s double standard: When convenience becomes principle
This selective indignation exposes the moral bankruptcy of India’s left-liberal opposition. Their stance on the ECI shifts not with principle, but with political expediency.
When the SIR threatened to clean up voter rolls in Bihar, a state with a large population of illegal Bangladeshi-origin voters who have historically benefited opposition parties, the exercise was branded “undemocratic.” But in Assam, where the same process could potentially reinforce the BJP’s nationalist credentials by validating the NRC outcomes, the Left now cries foul over its absence.
Let’s call this what it is: vote-bank panic.
The opposition fears that in states like Bihar and West Bengal, the cleansing of electoral rolls will expose the depth of illegal voting blocs that have skewed democratic outcomes for decades. In Assam, however, the same opposition wants to push the ECI into violating Supreme Court oversight just to craft a new narrative that the ECI, “under BJP pressure,” is shielding Hindu illegals while targeting Muslims.
It’s a cynical, circular game:
- If SIR happens → “BJP-ECI conspiracy to delete Muslim voters.”
- If SIR doesn’t happen → “BJP-ECI conspiracy to protect Hindu voters.”
Either way, the Left’s script stays the same: always attack the ECI, always question institutions, and always create distrust before elections.
The facts they won’t tell you
In Bihar, during the recently completed SIR, approximately 6.5 million names were removed from the electoral rolls. Not all were “illegal immigrants”, most were deceased voters, duplicates, or those who had migrated. The ECI’s function is not to decide who is an Indian citizen but to ensure that every eligible citizen gets to vote once, and only once.
Similarly, in Assam, the ECI’s caution stems not from political bias but from judicial restraint. The NRC process is still under review because both the Supreme Court and the Assam government have raised concerns over its accuracy, with many foreigners allegedly included and many indigenous people excluded. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has publicly supported a fresh verification, and the state government has assured full cooperation with the ECI once the Supreme Court allows further action.
The real issue: Opposition’s insecurity
The fury over Assam’s exclusion is, therefore, not about democracy; it’s about losing control over the narrative. For years, the opposition has thrived on portraying the BJP as authoritarian and the ECI as compromised. Election after election, they have refused to admit their actual flaws and, instead of introspection and scrutiny of their own political message, or even the smallest attempt to find out why they have been rejected by the people, they have been hoping that blaming democratic institutions and creating mass public distrust in the country will help them achieve their goal.
The same “liberals” who cried foul when bogus names were deleted in Bihar are now demanding that Assam’s voter rolls be overhauled immediately, even if it means clashing with the Supreme Court monitored NRC. What they really want is chaos, a narrative of “ECI confusion” they can exploit in the run-up to 2026.
A lawful, logical pause
Far from being “irrational” as The Print’s editorial claimed, the ECI’s reasoning is meticulous and lawful. A special SIR for Assam will come, but only after the NRC process concludes under the Supreme Court’s watch. This ensures the integrity of both citizenship verification and voter registration.
The ECI’s restraint, in this case, demonstrates institutional maturity, not partisanship. Those who accuse it of bias today were the same who demanded judicial oversight yesterday. The only consistent thing about them is their inconsistency.
In truth, the Election Commission is simply doing what the Constitution requires, maintaining electoral purity without undermining judicial authority. Assam’s exclusion from the current SIR is not a political decision; it is a constitutional necessity.
The real question is not “Why no SIR in Assam?” But, “Why does the opposition oppose or support the same process depending on its vote-bank math?”
As the dust settles, one thing becomes clear: the ECI is standing firm on law and logic, while the opposition stands only on opportunism.
