New Delhi, Nov 30: The Election Commission on Sunday extended by a week the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in nine states and three Union Territories, following concerns over tight timelines affecting both voters and ground staff.
“After reviewing progress with chief electoral officers, we decided to extend the schedule for all phases,” an EC spokesperson said. Enumeration forms will now be distributed until December 11, instead of December 4. Draft rolls are expected on December 16, while the final voters’ list will now be available on February 14, 2026, replacing the earlier February 7 deadline.
Opposition parties have criticized the SIR, claiming that stress over deadlines has led to at least 40 deaths among booth-level officers. The EC, however, rejected these allegations, stating the process is proceeding without major issues.
Congress leader Pramod Tiwari welcomed the change, saying, “The extension shows the original timeline was not workable.”
The extension comes on the eve of the Winter Session of Parliament, where opposition leaders have indicated they will push for a debate on the SIR. Last session, scheduled discussions were disrupted over the voter revision exercise in Bihar.
The exercise, launched on October 27, aims to update voter records for nearly 51 crore electors across the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. States like Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal will hold assembly elections in 2026, while Assam has a separate revision underway.
The SIR seeks to weed out illegal foreign migrants by verifying voters’ places of birth, a move aligned with ongoing crackdowns on migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar in several states.
