- Home
- NG Hindi
- India
- World
- Politics
- Sex & Relationships
- Entertainment
- Culture
- Lifestyle
- Economy
- Sports
- Sp. Coverage
- Misc.
- NewsGram Exclusive
- Jobs / Internships
The ECI has notified the schedule for phase two of the nationwide SIR, which is set to cover 12 states and UTs.
The exercise is set to begin at the end of October 2025, with the final rolls set to be published in February 2026.
The undertaking will cover all states and UTs going to polls in 2026, with the exception of Assam, for which a separate notification will be made.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) notified the schedule for the nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) on Monday, 27 October 2025. After a ‘successful’ first phase in Bihar, the ECI announced the second phase of the nationwide exercise which is to cover twelve States and Union Territories.
Speaking at a press conference in Delhi, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar announced that the process will begin on Tuesday, 28 October 2025. The second phase will cover the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa, Puducherry, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Lakshadweep. The revision exercise will span 51 crore voters and require 5.33 lakh Booth Level Officers (BLOs).
“SIR will ensure no eligible elector is left out and no ineligible elector is included in poll rolls,” CEC Kumar said at the conference. The ECI published an ‘indicative’ – not exhaustive – list of documents to be used as proof of citizenship. The list is based on the documents used in the Bihar SIR. The Commission clarified that Aadhaar cards can be submitted as proof of identity, but do not verify citizenship, DOB, or residence.
The announcement follows earlier reviews of each state’s preparedness for the operation. The process will begin with training of officers, which will continue till 3 November 2025. This will be followed by house-to-house enumeration till 4 December 2025. Initial draft electoral rolls will be published on 8 December 2025, and claims and objections raised against it will be received till 8 January 2026. Hearings and verifications will continue till 31 January 2026. The final rolls will be published on 7 February 2026.
The ECI’s notification comes before polls in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry, scheduled for 2026. All the above states are included in phase two of the exercise, except Assam. CEC Kumar said that a separate notification will be issued for the SIR in Assam.
Opposition leaders hit back against the undertaking, accusing the ECI of working as a puppet of the BJP to remove voters from poll-bound states. They pointed to mass exclusions in the Bihar SIR as proof, as well as the ECI’s refusal to properly address concerns and discrepancies raised by opposition parties.
Addressing these concerns at the press conference, CEC Kumar said that “As per law, electoral rolls have to be revised before every election or as per requirement.” “Many changes in electoral rolls have occurred due to frequent migration, which may have resulted in voters getting registered in more than one place,” he explained as the reasoning for undertaking the exercise.
This exercise will be the 9th such revision undertaken in India since independence. The first was in 1951, and the most recent took place around 21 years ago, in 2004. [Rh]
