Why Bangladesh is emerging as a point of contention in India’s elections

A controversial drive to register citizens in border states has been cast by New Delhi as justified action against illegal migration

But critics say it is a politically motivated power play designed to exploit divisions between Hindus and Muslims

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Voters queue at a polling station in Guwahati, Assam, on April 23. Photo: EPA

Published: 2:13pm, 13 May 2019Updated: 9:18pm, 13 May 2019

For the first time in an Indian parliamentary election, Bangladesh has become a significant political issue.

“Usually it is the other way round, India is always a big election issue in Bangladesh, but this time, the ruling BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] made illegal migration from Bangladesh a major issue,” said Samir Das, who teaches political science at the University of Calcutta.

India’s six-week-long national election, which ends on Sunday, has been conducted against the backdrop of an update to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, where regional groups have long agitated against alleged illegal migration from Bangladesh.

A draft version of the register, published in December, excluded 4 million residents – mostly Bengali-speaking Hindus and Muslims.

Residents hold their documents as they queue to check their names on the National Register of Citizens in Assam. Photo: AFP

In keeping with an order of the Supreme Court, the final version of the list will have to be published by July 31, amid fears the process is being rushed and many genuine Indian citizens of Bengali origin may be left out of the register on suspicion of being illegal migrants from Bangladesh.