The Election Commission of India is preparing to roll out the third phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as part of its nationwide exercise aimed at cleaning and updating voter lists across the country.
According to the poll body, the rollout of Phase III had been delayed because of the Assembly elections held last month in Kerala, Assam, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. With the electoral process now completed in these states and Union Territories, the Commission has now decided to move ahead with the next phase of the exercise.
The Election Commission stated that nearly 40 crore electors across the remaining states and Union Territories will now be covered during the upcoming phase of the revision process.
According to Election Commission data, nearly 60 crore voters out of India’s total electorate of around 99 crore have already been covered under the voter roll clean-up exercise conducted in earlier phases.
So far, the Special Intensive Revision exercise has been carried out in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Bihar, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.
The Election Commission also clarified that a separate “special revision” exercise was carried out in Assam.
Once Phase III is completed, the revision exercise would have covered all states and Union Territories across India.
22 states and UTs to be covered in upcoming phase
The next phase of the Special Intensive Revision will cover 17 states and five Union Territories.
According to the Election Commission, letters have already been sent to Chief Electoral Officers of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Ladakh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Delhi, Odisha, Punjab, Sikkim, Tripura, Telangana and Uttarakhand.
According to reports, the Election Commission had earlier directed these states and Union Territories in February to complete preparatory work related to SIR ahead of the next phase expected to begin in April.
Over 5 crore names removed during earlier revision exercise
The Election Commission also released data from the earlier phases of the revision exercise, showing a significant reduction in electoral rolls after verification and deletion processes.
According to EC and state poll officials, electoral rolls across nine states and three Union Territories were reduced by nearly 10.2 percent after the exercise. More than 5.18 crore names were deleted from the rolls following the revision process.
When the second phase of the exercise was announced on October 27, the total voter base across the 12 states and Union Territories stood at over 50.99 crore. Following the completion of the exercise, the number reportedly came down to 45.81 crore.
The Election Commission said that 66.88 lakh deceased electors were removed from the voter rolls during the exercise. Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of deletions with 25.47 lakh deceased voters removed, followed by West Bengal with 24.16 lakh deletions.
Apart from deceased voters, another 63.16 lakh names were deleted after objections were raised and adjudication processes were completed during the revision exercise.
Bihar exercise drew national attention
The Special Intensive Revision exercise had first drawn widespread national attention during its implementation in Bihar. The Election Commission stated that the second phase involving nearly 51 crore electors has now formally concluded.
The poll body maintains that the nationwide exercise is aimed at ensuring cleaner, updated, and error-free electoral rolls before future elections across the country.
