New Delhi, Oct 27: The Election Commission will conduct phase two of the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union Territories between November and February, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar announced on Monday.
The states and Union Territories are: the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Among these, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal will go to the polls in 2026. Kumar clarified that in Assam, where polls are also due in 2026, the revision of electoral rolls will be announced separately.
Phase two of the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise will begin on November 4 with the enumeration state and continue till December 4. The EC will release the draft electoral rolls on December 9, and the final electoral rolls will be published on February 7.
Kumar said a separate provision of the Citizenship Act was applicable to Assam.
“Under the Citizenship Act, there are separate provisions for citizenship in Assam. Under the supervision of the Supreme Court, the exercise of checking citizenship is about to be completed. The June 24 SIR order was for the entire country. Under such circumstances, this would not have applied to Assam,” Kumar said.
“So there will be separate revision orders issued for Assam, and a separate SIR date will be announced,” he said.
The CEC said the ongoing SIR is the ninth such exercise since Independence, with the last one happening in 2002-04.
He highlighted that the first phase of the SIR was completed in Bihar with zero appeals.
“The second phase will be conducted in 12 states and Union Territories. SIR will ensure no eligible elector is left out and no ineligible elector is included in poll rolls,” Kumar said at a press conference.
“Phase two of SIR will cover 51 crore voters. While the enumeration process will begin on November 4, the draft rolls will be published on December 9 and final electoral rolls on February 7,” he added.
The CEC also ruled out any confrontation with the West Bengal government, where the ruling Trinamool Congress has expressed reservations about the SIR exercise in the state.
“There is no hurdle between the Election Commission and the state government. The Commission is doing its constitutional duty by carrying out the SIR, and the state government will discharge its constitutional duties,” Kumar said.
The CEC said state governments were bound to provide the necessary personnel to the Election Commission for the preparation of electoral rolls and conduct of polls.
On the demands for putting off the SIR exercise in Kerala on account of local bodies elections, Kumar said the notification of the local bodies elections was yet to be issued.
The voters’ list cleanup exercise has been concluded in Bihar, with the final list of nearly 7.42 crore electors published on September 30. Polling in the state will be held in two phases — on November 6 and November 11 — and the counting of votes will take place on November 14.
The Election Commission has already held two conferences with state chief electoral officers (CEOs) to firm up the SIR rollout roadmap. Several CEOs have already put the voter lists after their last SIR on their websites.
The website of the Delhi CEO has the 2008 voter list when the last intensive revision took place in the national capital. In Uttarakhand, the last SIR took place in 2006, and that year’s electoral roll is now available on the state CEO website.
The last SIR in states will serve as the cut-off date, just as the 2003 voter list of Bihar was used by the EC for intensive revision.
Most states had the last SIR of the voter list between 2002 and 2004, and they have nearly completed the mapping of current electors according to the last SIR held in their respective states.
The primary aim of the SIR is to weed out foreign illegal migrants by checking their place of birth. The move assumes significance in the wake of a crackdown in various states on illegal migrants, including those from Bangladesh and Myanmar. (PTI)
