AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi had called the Special Intensive Exercise (SIR) a 'backdoor' National Register of Citizens (NRC). He said that the SIR puts the onus on the voters to prove their citizenship. Owaisi pointed out that the Election Commission of India (ECI) is not an eligible authority to determine the citizenship of its people. He underlined that SIR is violative of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (RPA 1951).
Owaisi concluded that the SIR can be misused to exclude citizens based on religion. He cited the example of the exclusion of 3.66 lakh people from the electoral roll of Bihar, SIR, redirecting them to authorities dealing with illegal foreign migration. The centre then came out with The Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, and an immigration foreigner exemption order that exempts Muslims from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. He was speaking at the Lok Sabha on the electoral reforms debate on December 10.