Election Commission to Announce Nationwide Special Intensive Revision of Voter Rolls Tomorrow: What You Need to Know

The Election Commission is set to announce the nationwide rollout date for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls tomorrow. Around 10 states will be included in the first phase, including the poll-bound states of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, along with Assam, Kerala, and the Union Territory of Puducherry, according to sources.

Just three days ago, the Election Commission conducted a meeting with Chief Electoral Officers from all states and Union Territories in Delhi. During this meeting, they discussed the Bihar experience and decided to make improvements to the process.

"In Bihar, the SIR process took nearly four months from June 24 to September 30. However, the Commission is now planning to shorten this time frame," an official told NDTV on condition of anonymity.

The Commission has instructed all states and Union Territories to begin pre-matching previous and current electoral rolls to ensure the voter verification process doesn't become too time-consuming.

This decision on SIR follows significant criticism from Opposition parties regarding how the process was conducted in Bihar.

The issue reached the Supreme Court, which ordered the inclusion of Aadhaar as an acceptable identity document. The judges overruled the election body's concerns about potential forgery, stating that instead of "en masse exclusion," there should be "en masse inclusion."

The Special Intensive Revision conducted in Bihar faced intense scrutiny and multiple requests to discontinue it. Approximately 66,000 names were removed from the voter list, which the poll body claimed was due to deaths, duplication, and migration.

Opposition parties alleged that the process was aimed at disenfranchising large numbers of citizens, particularly poor and minority communities who might support them.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi presented data from several areas, alleging collusion between the Commission and the BJP to secure a massive mandate for the ruling party. The Opposition suggested that the SIR was designed for this purpose.