New Delhi: “Eleven days from today – on the ninth [April] – elections are set to take place in Assam. The people of Assam must not view their vote merely as a means to make Himanta Biswa Sarma the chief minister or to elect their respective candidates as MLAs. Rather, this vote is to create an ‘infiltrator-free’ Assam.”On March 29, Union home minister Amit Shah, along with a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, held public rallies in Sonitpur and Nalbari as part of the Assam assembly election campaign. During the rallies, he urged the voters to cast their ballots in order to “liberate” the state from “infiltrators”.In a direct attack on the opposition Congress party, Shah remarked, “No matter how much effort Gaurav Gogoi and Rahul Gandhi put in, stringent action against infiltrators will continue, and the process of sending every single infiltrator back will be carried forward.”It is important to note that the BJP-led coalition government has been in power in the state since 2015. Since 2019, Amit Shah himself has been at the helm of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) – a portfolio that encompasses the responsibility for securing the country’s various borders.Further, he said that the Union government is committed to identifying infiltrators across the country, removing them from the electoral rolls, and repatriating them to their places of origin in accordance with the law. He also claimed that the BJP government in Assam has reclaimed 1.25 lakh acres of land from ‘intruders’ over the past decade, ensuring that no intruder can now enter Assam.Meanwhile, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, has also been making promises to ‘drive intruders out of the state’. During an election rally on March 27, Sarma declared that if his government is re-elected, he would ‘break the back’ of the ‘Bangladeshi Miyas.’He further claimed that 1.5 lakh bighas of land had been cleared of encroachment in the last five years, and that this figure is expected to increase to five lakh bighas during the upcoming term.Also read: The Many Meanings of ‘Outsider’ in Assam’s 2026 Assembly ElectionsHowever, regarding the matter of ‘intrusion’ – which is being highlighted extensively in election speeches – the governments themselves lack definitive statistics. Neither the Union government nor the state government has been able to supply official data requested under the Right to Information Act.How many intruders have been identified or apprehended in Assam?On February 23, 2026, RTI activist Kanhaiya Kumar filed an application with the Chief Minister’s Secretariat of the Assam government. In this application, he sought three essential pieces of information:The total number of ‘intruders’ identified or apprehended in Assam over the last 10 years (or the available period).The number of individuals deported or repatriated during this same period.Country-wise details (based on nationality) of these ‘intruders’.In response, the Chief Minister’s Secretariat of Assam was unable to furnish any information and redirected the application to the ‘Political (B) Department’ – a division within the state’s home and political department.What was the Assam government’s response?In its response, the home and political department of the Assam government stated that the information sought was maintained by the Assam Police Border Organisation. The department further clarified that the Assam Police Border Organisation is exempt from disclosing information under Section 24(4) of the RTI Act, 2005.What does Section 24(4) state?Section 24 of the Act places certain security and intelligence agencies outside the purview of the RTI framework. Sub-section 4 of this very section extends this exemption to intelligence and security organisations established by the state governments – specifically those that the state government, from time to time, designates for inclusion in this exemption through notifications published in the Official Gazette.However, there is a provison: information pertaining to the allegations of corruption and human rights violations cannot be withheld.Did the Union government also fail to provide figures?It is noteworthy that, earlier, The Wire Hindi published an article in February 2026 in which it was reported that the MHA, led by Shah, stated that it did not possess data regarding ‘infiltrators’.In January 2026, in response to an RTI inquiry, the MHA had stated that it did not possess any centralised data regarding ‘infiltrators’ across the country.Also read: Last-Minute Opposition Unity, Rising Communal Pitch and ‘CongJP’ Factor: Eyes on Assam PollsThe ministry had clarified that the responsibility for identifying, arresting, and deporting illegal migrants falls to the state governments. In other words, the Centre shifted the responsibility for the data onto the states, but now the state government is also refusing to provide the information.Questions arising from the contradictionNow that the Central Government asserts that the data resides with the states, while the state governments refuse to provide that information in response to RTI queries, the question arises: on what grounds are claims regarding ‘infiltrators’ being made from electoral platforms?This contradiction not only undermines the credibility of government claims but also highlights how a sensitive issue like ‘infiltration’ has become an integral part of electoral politics. It is important to mention that voting for the state’s 126 Assembly seats is scheduled to take place in a single phase on April 9, 2026, while the counting of votes will be held on May 4.The main contest in this election lies between the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Congress-led opposition. As the BJP seeks to return to power for a third consecutive term, the issue of ‘infiltration’ has emerged as a central plank of its electoral agenda.This article was translated from Hindi to English by Naushin Rehman.This article was originally published on The Wire Hindi.