Excluded people from the National Register of Citizens (NRC) list in Assam can cast their vote in upcoming Assembly Elections 2021, said Election Commission of India.

Citizens having names in the voters’ list will be able to vote.

Bihu festival dates and CBSE Board examination in the state will be kept in mind before deciding on the schedule of the assembly election, said Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora while speaking to media persons.

As per NRC data, out of 3,30,27,661 applicants, around 19,06,657 people were excluded from the list and a total of 3,11,21,004 names were included in Assam.

To assess the poll preparation in Assam, CEC Sunil Arora came on a three-day visit to the state along with two other Election Commissioners.

Further CEC added, “In view of COVID-19 social distancing norms, the Commission has specifically revisited some extant norms. As a result, the maximum number of electors at a polling station has been reduced from 1500 to 1000.”

“Accordingly for Assam, the number of polling stations would go up by about 5000 and are likely to be more than 33000 for forthcoming elections,” he added.

On their three-day visit, separate meetings will be held at Guwahati between the CEC and Chief Secretary, the Home Secretary, the DGP and other senior officials of the State; Chief Electoral Officer and Police Nodal Officer of Assam; leaders of political parties; election-related Central and State Regulatory authorities.

CEC Sunil Arora will meet the District Election Officers and SPs of the State.

According to a press release, the members of the delegation were Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra; Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar; DG, ECI Dharmendra Sharma; DEC Chandra Bhusan Kumar; ADG, PIB and spokesperson Sheyphail B Sharan; Senior Principal Secretary Narendra N Butolia; Director of Expenditure Pankaj Srivastava and EVM Consultant Vipin Katara.