Guwahati, January 20 (IANS): Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora on Wednesday said those excluded from Assam’s updated National Register of Citizens (NRC), if their names are on the final electoral rolls, can vote in the assembly polls likely to be held in April-May.
The updated NRC under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court was released on August 31, 2019, excluding the names of 19,06,657 persons. A total of 3,11,21,004 names were included out of 3,30,27,661 applicants.
The CEC cited a Union Home Ministry notification of August 29, 2019 that clarified that the exclusion of a person’s name from the NRC does not amount to his or her declaration as a foreigner. “Since the people, excluded in the NRC, have their names in the final voters’ list, they can exercise their franchise in the elections,” he told the media.`Those voters who were excluded from the NRC in Assam also cast their votes in the last Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
