EC may roll out first phase of all-India SIR next week, beginning with 10-15 states
New Delhi (PTI): The Election Commission is likely to roll out the first of pan-India Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters' list next week beginning with "10 to 15 states", including those going to polls next year, officials said on Saturday.
Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and West Bengal will hold to polls in 2026 and they are amongst the states where the voters' list cleanup exercise will begin first.
The poll authority is likely to announce the first phase of SIR middle of next week, in which as many as "10 to 15 states" would be included, officials said.
The EC will not hold the electoral roll cleanup exercise in states where local body elections are taking place or are due, as the grassroots poll machinery is busy with it and may not be able to focus on SIR, they said
The SIR in such states will be held in later phases.
The voters' list cleanup exercise has concluded in Bihar where the final list with nearly 7.42 crore names was published on September 30.
Biahr will go to polls in two phases, on November 6 and November 11, and the counting will take place on November 14.
The Commission has already held two conferences with state chief electoral officers (CEOs) to firm up the SIR rollout roadmap.
Several CEOs have already put the voter lists published after their last SIR on their websites.
The website of the Delhi CEO has the 2008 voter list when the last intensive revision took place in the national capital.
In Uttarakhand, the last SIR took place in 2006, and that year's electoral roll is now on the state CEO website.
The last SIR in states will serve as the cut-off date, just as the 2003 voter list of Bihar was used by the EC for intensive revision.
Most states had the last SIR of the voter list between 2002 and 2004.
Most have nearly completed the mapping of current electors with the voters according to the last SIR held in their respective states or Union territories.
The primary aim of the SIR is to weed out foreign illegal migrants by checking their place of birth.
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PM Modi should scrap “anti-farmer” trade deal with US, says Rahul Gandhi
Bhopal (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should scrap the Indo-US trade deal, which he described as being against the interests of Indian farmers.
“After the US Supreme Court ruling on the trade deal, I challenge PM Modi to scrap it,” Gandhi said, addressing the ‘Kisan Mahachaupal’ farmers rally in Bhopal.
“The Indo-US trade deal is against the interests of our farmers, and done by PM Modi under pressure,” the Congress leader said.
Gandhi said he was not allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha after the President’s address.
On former army chief Gen Naravane’s memoir, Gandhi said the decision to go to war is a political decision, and not a military one.
VIDEO | Bhopal: Addressing a gathering, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi says, "I want to say two or three more things. Listen carefully after my speech ends. The moment my speech ended, the Prime Minister left the Lok Sabha. In the evening, without consulting Rajnath Singh, Shivraj… pic.twitter.com/g83QRrUBug
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 24, 2026
