Hyderabad: All India Majlis E Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of “secretly implementing” the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Bihar prior to the forthcoming Assembly elections.

He alleged that new voter registration guidelines requiring elaborate birth papers are discriminatory and can result in en masse disenfranchisement of voters, especially the poor and marginalized.

In an X post, Owaisi stated, “The Election Commission is implementing NRC in Bihar through the backdoor. To get registered in the voter roll, every citizen will now need to produce documents not just establishing when and where they were born, but also when and where their parents were born.” He further stated that it was “a cruel joke” to expect such documentation from poor citizens in flood-hit regions like Seemanchal.

Owaisi cautioned that such actions had the potential to keep legitimate Indian citizens from voting as well as break the public’s confidence in the Election Commission. He reminded that even official estimates put only 75 percent of births registered in India, and numerous government records have substantial errors.

The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a process of verification of citizenship to identify illegal immigrants. It was initially done in Assam, where around 1.9 million individuals were left out of the final list released in 2019, causing indiscriminate fear and anxiety.

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The central government has already suggested a countrywide NRC but the proposal has come under fire for its ability to exclude vulnerable groups of people.

The NRC has ignited widespread protests in India since 2019, particularly when combined with the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The NRC-CAA combination was feared by protesters to be used for targeting Muslims. Opposition leaders, civil society organizations, and legal practitioners have expressed apprehensions about the practicability, legality, and humanitarian aspects of such an extensive documentation exercise.

Although the central government has not formally proceeded with a pan-India NRC, apprehensions have continued because of the ongoing bureaucratic reforms and public statements from the government officials. The Election Commission of India, however, has not made any official notification connecting voter registration processes with NRC.

Opposition party leaders, including Congress and RJD in Bihar, too have voiced alarm at strict documentation norms brought in during the current revision of electoral rolls. Activists of civil rights organisations have sought to know what the Election Commission means and demanded protective measures to prevent any citizen from being unjustly debarred from exercising their franchise.