A major shift in the political landscape of Assam is occurring. While recent election results reflect the gradual rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the region, the electoral routing of the twice-incumbent Congress, traditionally known to be more sympathetic to minority issues, marks a significant setback for the party in a state that has long witnessed tensions concerning citizenship and identity. Interestingly, the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) – a minority party led by Badruddin Ajmal – appears to have regained its earlier sheen, making deeper fissures in the state's polarised political landscape.
Responsible for much of this polarisation are issues of citizenship and belonging for the state's Bengali-speaking Muslims. The immense sensitivity of these concerns can be gauged by the fact that while the electoral process occurred, so too did the gruesome killing of innocent Bengali-speaking Muslims in Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) areas. The genesis of these killings can be found in the political momentum the citizenship issue has gathered.
Noteworthy in this year's long election campaigns is the way that different labels have gained currency to represent Bengali-speaking Muslims in public and official discourse, the latest being 'D-voters'. 'D-voters' (the 'D' stands for 'doubtful') are a category of voters in Assam who are disenfranchised by the government on account of their alleged lack of proper citizenship credentials. During the recent campaign, and within the state's highly charged political atmosphere, the discourse has, at times, become deeply problematic. 'Bangladeshis Go Back!' – the popular slogan of the Assam Movement throughout the 1980s – is yet to lose its relevance for many, only now it reverberates in Assam's political canvas under new guises.
Efforts have been made to include some D-voters. At an election rally in Silchar, the then-BJP prime ministerial candidate (and now Prime Minister) Narendra Modi urged the Election Commission to remove the 'D' tag from the electoral rolls. He reminded the crowd of the Indian states' moral obligation to take back Bengali Hindus who came to Assam in the aftermath of religious persecution in erstwhile East Pakistan. Assam's outgoing Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi meanwhile advocated the Centre grant "special refugee status" to Hindu Bengalis on humanitarian grounds. Likewise, a verdict handed down by the Guwahati High Court maintained that Assam's Nepali-speaking citizens cannot be termed foreigners, stipulating that the label 'D' be deleted from their names on the voters' roll.