Assam went to polls early this year without SIR being carried out instead Special Revision was taken in its place. Assam which shares an international border with Bangladesh is a sensitive state and illegal influx from Bangladesh has always been an issue here.
A senior official in the Assam government said, “The process of creation of Aadhar like date regime for NRC is on and only after its completion, RGI can notify NRC following which SIR exercise can be carried out.”
On November 18, 2025, Assam chief electoral officer (CEO) Anurag Goel said that Assam home department has informed the Election Commission that process is on for creation of data security regime for NRC and is likely to be completed by August 2026. Once the same is completed Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral roll can take place in Assam.
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SIR could not take place in Assam as the NRC remains unresolved. Both- the BJP led Assam government as well as the Chief Electoral Officer of Assam had separately conveyed to the Election Commission in late 2025 that the SIR should only be conducted in Assam after the upcoming assembly elections and once the NRC is notified.
At that time, it was conveyed to the poll panel that the NRC would be notified by mid-2026 with Aadhar like document verification features- following which the SIR exercise can be conducted.Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, while announcing SIR for other states, had said in October 2025 that a separate order for Assam SIR would be issued, given its citizenship complexities.
“There are separate provisions for Assam’s citizenship in the law, and a drive to check valid citizens has already been done under the Supreme Court’s observation. A separate order for SIR in Assam will be issued,” he said at the press conference.
He added that under the supervision of the top court, the checking of citizenship in Assam is about to be completed.
Before Assam assembly polls held in April , Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls was introduced in place of the SIR.
The exercise of National Register of Citizens (NRC)updation followed- a supreme Court monitored exercise aimed at weeding out illegal immigrants.
The supplementary NRC list, published on August 31, 2019, had found more than 31.1 million people eligible to be included in the registry while leaving out over 1.9 million people.
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The updation process of the NRC in Assam continues to be caught in a logjam as years after the publication of the supplementary list, rejection slips are yet to be issued to those excluded to enable them to challenge the decision at the Foreigners Tribunal (FT).
Presently there is litigation in the Supreme Court pertaining to NRC, former NRC co-ordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma has filed a writ petition seeking for a complete, comprehensive and time- bound reverification of the draft NRC as well as the supplementary list of NRC.
