The Election Commission of India (ECI) has once again revised the schedule for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh (UP), pushing back the publication of the draft electoral rolls to January 6, 2026. This is a further extension from the previously revised date of December 31, 2025. The final electoral roll is now scheduled for publication on March 6, 2026, instead of the earlier date of February 28.
The revision of the schedule is due to the creation of 15,030 new polling booths in Uttar Pradesh. This rationalization of polling booths was approved by the Election Commission on December 23, 2025, based on the criteria of 1,200 voters per booth. Earlier, the state had 1.62 lakh polling booths, a number that was rationalized to accommodate 1,500 voters per booth in 2024. With the addition of the new booths, the total number of polling stations in Uttar Pradesh has now increased to 1.77 lakh. As a result of these changes, voter names and part numbers must be shifted to the new booths, and Booth Level Officers (BLOs) must be appointed at these locations before the electoral roll can be published.
Following the draft roll publication on January 6, the ECI will invite claims and objections from voters between January 6 and February 6, 2026. The notice stage, disposal of claims and objections, and decisions on enumeration forms will be carried out from January 6 to February 27, 2026.
According to provisional data, the SIR exercise is expected to lead to the deletion of approximately 2.89 crore voters from the electoral rolls, which constitutes about 18.70% of the electorate. These deletions are likely due to reasons such as voters being deceased, having shifted residences, being absent, or being enrolled in multiple locations. Uttar Pradesh is expected to have the highest number of deletions, followed by Tamil Nadu (15%) and Gujarat (14.5%). The draft electoral roll is expected to contain around 12.55 crore voters. More than one crore voters in the draft list fall under the “unmapped” category and will be required to submit documents prescribed by the Election Commission to retain their names in the final roll.
The ongoing SIR exercise in Uttar Pradesh began on November 4, 2025, and was initially scheduled to conclude on December 26, 2025, after two extensions. The nearly 52-day exercise is being conducted under the theme "Shuddh Nirvachak Namavali, Majboot Loktantra" (Clean Electoral Roll, Strong Democracy).
The Congress party has alleged a lack of transparency in the SIR exercise, raising concerns about targeted deletion of voters in states including West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Congress MP Sasikanth Senthil has demanded clear explanations from the ECI regarding the methodology used for deleting voters' names and has criticized the ECI's shifting position on the use of de-duplication software. He also alleged that the commission was conducting the SIR in a “hit-and-trial” manner, without issuing clear instructions or providing adequate training to booth-level officers (BLOs).
