Barring Assam, all northeastern states likely to be clubbed for SIR

Even as the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has been deferred for now in Assam where Assembly polls are to be held early next year, the Election Commission is likely to club the remaining seven northeastern states for the exercise.

Sources said the SIR would be conducted together in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, most likely once the second phase was completed.

On October 27, the EC had announced that nine states and three UTs would undergo SIR between November 4 and February 7, 2026. The Bihar SIR is considered as the first phase of the voter revision exercise.

The sources said for the SIR in the Northeast, several factors, including weather, needed to be kept in mind as the exercise could not be conducted there in winter, indicating these states could see their turn after the second round or in the second half of 2026.

The sources said the EC decided to defer the SIR in Assam because of the ongoing citizenship checking exercise under the National Register of Citizens. “There is no point in taking a decision in haste regarding the SIR in Assam as the NRC work is underway,” an official said. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar told mediapersons that Assam was excluded from the second phase because “the checking of citizenship in the state was about to be completed”.

“Under the Citizenship Act, there are separate provisions for Assam. Secondly, under the supervision of the Supreme Court, the checking of citizenship in Assam is about to be completed. The June 24 SIR order was for the whole country. For this reason, separate orders for revision will be issued for Assam,” Kumar had said during a press conference while referring to the ongoing NRC exercise in the state.

It was earlier expected that the SIR would be conducted in Assam along with West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry where Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in the first half of 2026.