Those not on NRC can vote; Cong hails decision

Guwahati, January 21

A day after the Election Commission announced that those excluded from the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be eligible to vote in the upcoming Assembly poll if their names are on the voter list, the ruling BJP on Thursday said status quo about their voting rights had to be maintained while the Congress and AIUDF welcomed the decision.

The final NRC, a database of Indian citizens living in Assam which was updated under the supervision of the Supreme Court and published on August 31, 2019, excluded names of over 19 lakh of the 3.29 crore applicants. However, it has not been notified by the Registrar General of India yet.This leaves the document without any official validity.

“The NRC document in its present form has not been accepted by the party and we have asked for a re-verification. Till it is done, status quo has to be maintained,” BJP Assam unit president Ranjeet Dass said. — PTI