Voter lists in 12 states, Union Territories shrink by over 6 crore post SIR

The combined voters’ list of nine states and three Union Territories has shrunk by nearly 6.08 crore following the completion of the SIR exercise on Friday.

Now, following Uttar Pradesh coming out with its final electoral roll, the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters’ lists has been completed.

The final electoral rolls of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Puducherry, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa have been published.

According to data shared by the chief electoral officers of these states and the Election Commission (EC) over the last few months, the combined electoral rolls of these states and Union territories stood at around 51 crore when the SIR exercise was announced on October 27 last year.

After the SIR, the combined voter list stands at around 44.92 crore—a reduction of 6.08 crore.

While the exercise, which kept the EC in the news, was completed in Bihar earlier, its second phase in the above-mentioned 12 states and Union territories, with nearly 51 crore electors, has now been completed.

The remaining 40 crore electors will be covered in 17 states and five Union Territories when the SIR kicks off in those places, most likely after this month’s polls to five assemblies.

In Assam, a “special revision”, instead of the SIR, was completed on February 10.

Due to a variety of reasons, the SIR exercise in the nine states and three Union Territories has seen frequent tweaking in schedules.

Like Bihar, political parties have approached the Supreme Court, challenging the exercise in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.