Srihari Das, Bipin Baishnab, Harendra Das and many others of Malinibeel, a slum area on the outskirts of Silchar town, in Assam's Cachar district, have been fighting for citizenship in courts.
The government declared some of them 'D' (doubtful) voters in 2011.
"I had been exercising my franchise for the past so many years. But when I went to cast my vote in the last Assembly elections in 2011, I was denied my right as a 'D' symbol was put against my name in the electoral rolls. Initially, I did not understand anything, but later I realised that I have been branded a doubtful voter," said Bishnu Das, 38, a rickshaw-puller.
He, however, claimed that the names of his other family members are in the electoral rolls.
"My father passed away a few years ago, but he had cast his vote in every election. My mother and elder brother still exercise their franchise without any hassle. I was born in this town and I still cannot understand how I became a doubtful voter."
D-voters are a category who are barred from exercising their franchise because of their alleged lack of citizenship credentials.
In 1997, the Election Commission, during an intensive revision of electoral rolls, had ordered that the letter "D" be written against names of those voters who failed to provide proof of citizenship and their cases were referred to the 36 foreigners tribunals in the state.
There are 1,36,448 D-voters in Assam and their trials are under way in various foreigners tribunals in the state.
Haripada Das, a daily wage labourer, battled the Assam government in the foreigners tribunal for four years before he was declared as a bona fide citizen of the country. "After receiving a notice of being a foreigner, I filed a case in the foreigners tribunal in 2011. I am born on September 15, 1958, in Karimganj and studied in a school there. My father's name, Tulsi Das, was on the electoral rolls of 1966. My name was enlisted in the voter list of 1985 under Silchar Assembly constituency after shifting from Karimganj. Later, the tribunal pronounced the judgement in my favour on September 29, 2014."
Das, however, is not happy as his name has not been included in the electoral rolls after the judgement and he cannot cast his votes in the Assembly elections.
The alleged doubtful voters of the area said they had been used as a "football".
"Politicians come just on the eve elections and assure us of all help. But they forget us after the voting. We are not against the detection of illegal foreigners, but an innocent, financially weak individual should not be harassed," said Jatindra Das, 63. Das's wife lost her mental balance after she was served notice as a foreigner.
There are many alleged doubtful voters in Barpeta, Dibrugarh, Karbi Anglong, Jorhat, Dhubri, Cachar, Karimganj, Hailakandi, among other Assam districts.
Since 1980, there have been a host of movements across the state over influx.
The BJP has made it a political issue in this Assembly elections by forging an alliance with the AGP, which has a strong view on migration.
Bidhayak Das Purkayastha, the secretary of the Citizens' Rights Preservation Committee, which is spearheading a movement for the rights of Partition victims, said both the Congress and the BJP had been using the issue for their electoral gain.
"The parties want to keep the issue alive. None of the parties has a clear vision to address the problem. They raise their voice only before elections," he added.
Kabindra Purkayastha, the chairman of the BJP's vision document for the Assam elections, said Union home minister Rajnath Singh had told them that the Centre would introduce a bill in Parliament on April 14 to safeguard the rights of Hindu migrants.
Assam PCC spokesperson Deepan Dewanjee said it was just a BJP ploy to get votes. "They will never bring any bill. If they were so concerned about the Hindu migrants, they would have brought the bill in the past two years."
