Why has the electoral state Assam been left out of the Election Commission’s SIR Phase 2?

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Monday, October 27, announced the second phase of the Special Intensive Review (SIR) exercise in 12 states and Union Territories, which included several poll-bound states like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

But, Assam, another poll-bound state, was not mentioned in the list of states ready for the SIR 2.0 exercise. However, the CEC said that there will be separate voter verification in Assam.

CEC Kumar argued that this is because of the different provisions for citizenship that are applicable to the north-eastern state.

He said, “There are separate provisions for Assam under the Citizenship Act of India. The investigation of citizenship there is about to be completed under the supervision of the Supreme Court.”

CEC Gyanesh Kumar said, “The June 24 SIR order was for the entire country. Under such circumstances, it is not applicable to Assam. Therefore, separate orders of modification will be issued for Assam.”

#Watch Phase 2 of SIR On Assam not being included in the second phase of SIR, CEC Gyanesh Kumar says, “There are separate provisions for Assam under the Citizenship Act of India. The investigation of citizenship there is about to be completed under the supervision of the Supreme Court. … pic.twitter.com/NoeqZ5x6DY

– ANI (@ANI) 27 October 2025