The BJP-led Modi government appears to be losing its hold on Assam, as political tensions rise following the unexpected exclusion of the state from the 2nd phase of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls by the Election Commission.
The move has triggered intense debate & speculation across Assam’s political spectrum, with many seeing it as a desperate attempt by the ruling party to avoid further embarrassment amid growing voter dissatisfaction.
Assam’s exclusion is particularly striking, given that it is the only state where citizenship and voter identity have remained deeply contested issues since Independence.
Over the years, the BJP’s polarising narrative of insiders versus outsiders has further sharpened ethnic & religious divides.
Even before the creation of the National Register of Citizens, religious & linguistic minorities were treated as second class citizens, facing repeated exclusion from electoral lists & access to rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
Now, with thousands already disenfranchised, the BJP seems unwilling to risk another political storm.
The surprise move by the Election Commission, long accused by critics of bowing to political pressure from New Delhi has only strengthened perceptions that the ruling party cannot withstand the SIR heat in Assam.
The ghost of the 1979-1985 anti foreigner movement still looms large over the state, a movement that institutionalised the dangerous indigenous versus foreigner binary, one that has been systematically exploited by the Sangh Parivar for political gain.
When the BJP entered Assam’s political landscape, it weaponised identity politics to polarise communities & consolidate Hindu nationalist power in the Northeast.
Under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the BJP’s tactics have evolved from open communal rhetoric to electoral engineering, with recent delimitation exercises allegedly designed to restrict Muslim representation to just over 20 Assembly segments, effectively neutralising their political influence.
However, the exclusion of Assam from the SIR has backfired, revealing a government increasingly nervous, divided & out of touch with the ground reality. With rising unemployment, ethnic unrest & accusations of voter manipulation, the BJP’s double engine narrative in Assam is showing visible cracks.
