The Election Commission of India has announced a fresh revision in the schedule for the crucial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh. This marks the third such change since the exercise commenced, pushing key deadlines further into 2026.
Revised Timeline for Voter List Publication
As per the latest directive from the state's Chief Electoral Officer, Navdeep Rinwa, the draft voter list will now be made public on January 6, 2026. This is a significant shift from the earlier date of December 31, 2025. Following this, the period for filing claims and objections will run from January 6 to February 6, 2026.
The process of disposing of these claims and objections will continue until February 27. Ultimately, the final electoral roll for Uttar Pradesh is slated for publication on March 6, 2026.
Reason Behind the Delay: Massive Booth Rationalisation
The primary cause for the postponement is a large-scale rationalisation of polling stations across the state. The Election Commission approved a proposal to base the number of booths on a norm of 1,200 voters per booth, down from the previous 1,500.
This exercise has led to the creation of 15,030 new polling booths. Consequently, administrative work including shifting voter names to new booths, allocating part numbers, appointing Booth Level Officers (BLOs), and preparing rolls for these new locations required additional time. The total number of polling booths in UP will now stand at approximately 1.77 lakh.
Unprecedented Scale of Voter List Deletions
The upcoming draft roll is expected to contain around 12.55 crore voters. However, the revision process has led to the proposed deletion of a staggering 2.89 crore names, which constitutes about 18% of the pre-SIR list.
Officials state these deletions are due to standard reasons like death, change of residence, or duplication of entries. With this, Uttar Pradesh is set to witness the highest number of deletions among all states undergoing the SIR.
For comparison, other states have seen significant deletions as well:
- Tamil Nadu: About 97 lakh names (15%) deleted.
- Gujarat: 73.73 lakh names (14.5%) deleted.
- West Bengal: 58 lakh names removed.
- Rajasthan: 44 lakh voters removed.
Process for Affected Voters and Political Fallout
Voters whose names have been deleted, as well as new eligible voters, can apply for inclusion using Form 6 during the claims and objections window. Objections to any name in the draft roll can be filed using Form 7.
CEO Rinwa also highlighted that over one crore voters in the draft list are currently "unmapped" and will need to submit self-attested documents prescribed by the EC to retain their names in the final list.
The extensive deletion exercise has not been without controversy. Opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh have alleged bias in the process, accusations that have been firmly rejected by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The SIR, conducted under the theme 'Shuddh Nirvachak Namavali, Majboot Loktantra' (Clean Electoral Roll, Strong Democracy), remains a politically sensitive undertaking.
The schedule revision is the third extension for Uttar Pradesh in this cycle, following earlier extensions of the enumeration phase for all 12 states/UTs in November and a further extension for six states, including UP, in December.
