SIR of Electoral Rolls Begins in 12 States, UTs; TMC Calls Exercise a ‘Con Job’

PTI, NEW DELHI, NOV 4, 2025 :  The Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists commenced in 12 states and Union Territories on Tuesday, with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) accusing the poll body of running a “con job” under political pressure. The electoral roll cleanup exercise, aimed at updating voter records, is also being opposed by the ruling DMK and its allies in Tamil Nadu.

The Election Commission (EC) announced that booth-level officers (BLOs) have been deployed across the country to distribute semi-filled enumeration forms to electors and assist them in completing the necessary documentation. According to the EC's schedule, the SIR will begin with enumeration and continue until December 4, followed by the release of draft electoral rolls on December 9. The final voter list will be published on February 7.

The 12 states and UTs where this second round of SIR will be conducted 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 to hold elections in 2026. In Assam, which is also due for elections in 2026, a separate exercise for the revision of electoral rolls will take place as part of a Supreme Court-supervised process to verify citizenship in the state.

The second round of the SIR follows the initial phase that was conducted in Bihar. Bihar's final voter list, with nearly 7.42 crore names, was published on September 30. West Bengal, however, has seen the SIR exercise become a politically charged issue, with the ruling TMC questioning its timing and purpose.

While the BJP has welcomed the SIR as a necessary step for ensuring transparency in the electoral rolls, the TMC has alleged that the Election Commission (EC) is acting under pressure from the saffron party to manipulate the voter list ahead of next year's state elections. The TMC has termed the exercise a "politically motivated move" designed to intimidate voters.

TMC leader Derek O'Brien has labeled the SIR process a “con job organised by the Extremely Compromised body.” In Tamil Nadu, the ruling DMK has filed a plea before the Supreme Court, calling the SIR a "de facto NRC" and challenging its constitutional validity. The DMK is seeking to quash the EC's notification on the SIR, which was issued on October 27, 2025.

Meanwhile, the opposition AIADMK, which is an ally of the BJP, has voiced support for the SIR, while tensions between the political parties continue to rise. In Uttar Pradesh, the SIR exercise was launched under the theme, "Shuddh Nirvachak Namavali - Majboot Loktantra" (Clean Electoral Roll - Strong Democracy).

As the electoral roll revision moves forward, political observers believe that it has become a battleground where the BJP and the TMC are vying for dominance ahead of the 2026 assembly elections. Both parties view the SIR as a crucial precursor to the upcoming polls, with the process morphing into a fierce struggle between the administrative power of the Election Commission and the organizational strength of the political parties.