SIR in 12 states from Nov 4; Assam to follow separate schedule, says ECI

New Delhi, Oct 27: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday announced that phase two of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls will be conducted in 12 states and Union Territories, but Assam, where Assembly elections are also due in 2026, will follow a separate schedule.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said the SIR exercise will cover the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala and Puducherry go to the polls in 2026, alongside Assam.

As part of the second phase, voter enumeration will begin on November 4, the draft rolls will be published on December 9, and the final rolls will be out on February 7. This phase will cover approximately 51 crore voters.

The Election Commission has already held two rounds of consultations with state Chief Electoral Officers to finalise the roadmap.

However, Kumar clarified that Assam’s voter list revision will be announced separately in due course.

“The ongoing revision is the ninth such special exercise since Independence. We want to ensure no eligible voter is left out and no ineligible name remains on the rolls,” he said.

The first phase of SIR was completed in Bihar, where the final electoral roll of nearly 7.42 crore voters was published on September 30 without any appeals.

Ahead of the ECI’s announcement, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said his government would support the Election Commission’s decision if the SIR is extended to the state.

“I don’t know the topic of the press meet. However, whatever instruction we receive from the EC, we will work accordingly,” Sarma told reporters in Guwahati.

“If SIR is announced nationwide, definitely we will welcome it. We have already conveyed our view to the central government in this regard,” he added.

Assam, which has seen long-standing concerns over illegal migration and citizenship verification, is expected to have a keen focus on the SIR once announced.

The state last went through a major voter-related scrutiny during the National Register of Citizens (NRC) update process.

With Assam Assembly elections just months away, the final electoral roll revision in Assam is likely to draw close political and public attention.

Notably, the last SIR in most states took place between 2002 and 2004 and the current electorate is being mapped against those records.

The primary objective of the exercise is also to identify and weed out illegal foreign migrants by verifying place of birth documents, a move that gains significance amid crackdowns on undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar in several states.

PTI