Election Commission Extends SIR Deadlines Across 12 States (including West Bengal) and UTs Amid Political Reactions

Revised Special Intensive Revision Schedule Announced by ECI

Agencies, New Delhi, November 30, 2025: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday announced a one-week extension for all key deadlines of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being conducted across 12 States and Union Territories, with 1 January 2026 as the qualifying date. The Commission stated that it had issued “a revised Schedule by extending the relevant dates by one week for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Rolls in 12 States/UTs with reference to 01.01.2026 as the qualifying date.”

Under the revised timeline, the enumeration period and the rationalisation or rearrangement of polling stations will now be completed by 11 December 2025. The updation of the control table and preparation of the draft electoral roll will be carried out from 12 to 15 December 2025, with the draft roll scheduled for publication on 16 December 2025. Claims and objections may be submitted between 16 December 2025 and 15 January 2026. The notice phase—covering the issuance, hearing, verification and disposal of claims and objections by Electoral Registration Officers—will run from 16 December 2025 to 7 February 2026.

The Commission has fixed 10 February 2026 as the deadline for checking the health parameters of electoral rolls and securing approval for their final publication. The final roll will be published on 14 February 2026, instead of the earlier date of 7 February. The notification was issued by Apurva Kumar Singh, Additional Director, ECI.

Political Reactions Across States as SIR Continues

The SIR exercise, which began on 6 November 2025 in nine States and three Union Territories, has generated sharp political responses nationwide. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has called it a “con job” carried out by a “compromised” Election Commission, while the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu, along with its allies, has also objected to the ongoing electoral roll clean-up. According to the ECI, booth-level officers have been tasked with distributing semi-filled enumeration forms and assisting electors in updating required details. The original schedule included an enumeration window ending on 4 December 2025, the publication of the draft rolls on 9 December 2025 and the final publication on 7 February 2026.

The 12 States and UTs included in this phase of the SIR 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 are scheduled for Assembly elections in 2026. In Assam, where elections will also be held next year, the revision will be announced separately because of a Supreme Court-monitored citizenship verification process and the applicability of specific provisions of the Citizenship Act.

This marks the second round of the SIR following its completion in Bihar, where the final voter list, containing nearly 7.42 crore names, was released on 30 September 2025. In West Bengal, the revision has become a flashpoint between the BJP and the TMC in the lead-up to the 2026 Assembly polls. While the BJP has welcomed the SIR as a measure to enhance transparency, the TMC has questioned its timing, describing it as an attempt to influence the voter list. TMC leader Derek O’Brien labelled the exercise a “con job organised by the Extremely Compromised body.”

In Tamil Nadu, the political contest has taken on another dimension after the DMK challenged the constitutional validity of the SIR in the Supreme Court, calling it a “de facto NRC” and demanding the quashing of the EC’s 27 October notification. The AIADMK, an ally of the BJP, has supported the exercise. In Uttar Pradesh, the SIR is being conducted under the theme Shuddh Nirvachak Namavali – Majboot Loktantra (Clean Electoral Roll – Strong Democracy).

The publication of the draft electoral roll in West Bengal and across the other SIR-covered regions has been delayed by 7 days. Initially slated for 9 December 2025, the draft roll will now be released on 16 December 2025. Booth-level officers, who were earlier directed to submit enumeration forms and upload information to the Commission's portal by 4 December 2025, must now do so by 11 December.

The entire revision cycle has been postponed by exactly one week. Complaints regarding voter list entries may be filed until 15 January 2026, and Electoral Registration Officers will conduct hearings, verifications and disposals from 16 December 2025 to 7 February 2026. The final roll will be approved by 10 February and released on 14 February—an extension, believed by many observers, to follow sustained appeals from booth-level officers who reported pressure, delays in form submission, and incomplete digitisation work. Although the Election Commission did not specify the reasons for the postponements, the decision aligns with long-standing demands from officers on the ground who sought relief from severe time constraints.

This comprehensive revision process, extended across 12 States and Union Territories, is expected to shape the electoral landscape ahead of a decisive election year in 2026, with political narratives increasingly intertwined with the administration of the SIR.