Assamese who are not in the NRC also have the right to vote. Assembly elections are to be held in 2021

- The names of 18 lakh people were not in the list of NRC

Guwahati Dated 23rd December 2020 Wednesday

The Election Commission has announced that even those whose names are not on the NRC list released in Assam will be able to vote in the 2021 Assam Assembly elections.

The Election Commission was of the view that those who were not named in the NRC were entitled to their right to vote until the Citizens' Tribunal gave its verdict.

It should be noted here that the list of NRC was released on August 31, 2019 in Assam. It did not include the names of at least 1.9 million people. An application was also filed in the Supreme Court in this regard. The Citizens' Tribunal is currently hearing the case. The Election Commission has said that these people can exercise their voting right till the verdict of the Citizen Tribunal.

In fact, the government's intention in bringing in the NRC was to expel Bangladeshis who had entered Assam illegally after 1971. In many parts of Assam, the situation is such that the locals are in the minority and the Bangladeshis are in the majority. There was deep dissatisfaction among the local people in this regard.