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Guwahati, Nov 18 (IANS) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said the comprehensive Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the state’s voter list is dependent on the official notification of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), adding that he is hopeful the process will be finalized by the middle of next year.
The Chief Minister’s comments highlight the procedural hurdle in completely cleaning the voter list, a step deemed necessary to remove persistent inaccuracies.
He pointed out that the current electoral rolls suffer from significant discrepancies which undermine their integrity.
Citing specific issues, Sarma pointed to the presence of names belonging to deceased persons, minors ineligible to vote and married women whose entries have not been updated to reflect changes in their surname or address. He indicated that these errors highlight the urgent need for a systematic revision.
Sarma underlined the condition for SIR, saying, “NRC has not been notified yet.” “Once that is done – hopefully by the middle of next year – special intensive vetting can finally happen in Assam.”
In the interim, the Chief Minister confirmed that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed the state machinery to carry out a special summary amendment. The measure aims to identify and correct existing discrepancies in the voter list ahead of a more comprehensive NRC-related exercise.
This announcement underlines the ongoing efforts of the state government to ensure the accuracy and reliability of Assam’s electoral database.
The Election Commission of India on Monday announced that Assam will undergo special revision of its electoral rolls, an exercise that will conclude with the publication of the final electoral rolls on February 10, 2026.
The decision comes at a time when the state is heading towards the 2026 assembly elections, and the accuracy of the voter list remains the center of political discussion in Assam.
According to officials, the process ordered for Assam is neither a regular annual summary revision nor as thorough as the special in-depth revision (SIR) conducted recently in several other states.
It sits “somewhere in the middle”, with the Election Commission opting for a more targeted and better verification mechanism.
Instead of using blank enumeration forms, booth-level officials will work with pre-filled registers to confirm, correct or update voter details, which the Commission believes will reduce errors and speed up verification.
–IANS
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