Guwahati | Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday informed the Assembly that 91,385 “Doubtful Voters” (D-voters) continue to remain on the state’s electoral rolls, despite ongoing efforts to resolve citizenship-related cases through Foreigners’ Tribunals.

Replying to a question raised by Congress MLA Nurul Islam during the Budget Session of the Assam Legislative Assembly, Sarma said Sonitpur district has the highest number of D-voters at 13,719, followed by Barpeta with 8,081. Udalguri and Nagaon districts each have more than 7,800 D-voters.

The Chief Minister noted that the process of marking individuals as D-voters has been in force since 1997 under Election Commission guidelines for persons whose citizenship status is considered doubtful or disputed.

Responding in his capacity as Minister in charge of the Home and Political Department, Sarma said Foreigners’ Tribunals have so far declared 56,728 D-voters as foreigners. In addition, 831 individuals were declared foreigners through subsequent court proceedings after approaching the Gauhati High Court.

At the same time, tribunals have ruled in favour of 65,171 D-voters, declaring them Indian citizens. The Gauhati High Court and the Supreme Court have also recognised 42 and three individuals, respectively, as Indian citizens, he added.

Replying to a separate question from Congress MLA Wazed Ali Choudhury, Sarma said Assam had 1,99,596 D-voters when the category was first introduced in 1997. Since then, 2,44,144 D-voter cases have been referred to Foreigners’ Tribunals.

According to the Chief Minister, 2,05,659 of these cases have been disposed of, resulting in 56,728 individuals being declared foreigners.

Sarma further informed the House that the Assam Border Police has separately referred 1,90,657 suspected foreigner cases to Foreigners’ Tribunals. Of these, 1,55,490 cases have been disposed of, leading to 1,15,945 persons being declared foreigners.

Of the total number of individuals declared foreigners through the tribunal process, 31,789 have been expelled from Assam, he said.

The D-voter category, introduced by the Election Commission in 1997 and unique to Assam, applies to individuals whose citizenship status is under scrutiny. Persons marked as D-voters are barred from voting until their cases are adjudicated by Foreigners’ Tribunals and, where applicable, reviewed by higher courts.

The issue remains one of Assam’s most politically sensitive subjects, closely linked to longstanding debates over illegal immigration and citizenship verification. Individuals suspected of being illegal immigrants are often marked as D-voters if their names appear on electoral rolls, while their status is examined through the legal process.

The Chief Minister said any deletion or regularisation of D-voters is carried out strictly in accordance with the orders of Foreigners’ Tribunals and subsequent judicial rulings.