PHASE 2
ECI announced Phase 2 of SIR across 12 states and UTs on October 27, 2025, with several changes based on Bihar’s lessons — from permitting electors to submit the Enumeration Form with documents to allowing linkage with 2002/03 IR rolls from across the country to allowing mapping with relative’s names as well. However, the data matching was left to already burdened Booth Level Officers (BLOs) which caused much heartburn over tough targets and deadlines across states, in the preliminary phase itself.
THE ORIGINAL: BIHAR
SIR had its first surprise launch in Bihar on June 27, 2025, marking three big shifts from all previous electoral roll revisions, even the preceding Intensive Revision (IR) of 2002 and 2008. One, each elector was categorised on the basis of the date of birth vis-a-vis Citizenship Act, 2003 — for the first time linking electoral rolls directly to the new law; each elector was to be linked/matched against the last IR roll of 2002 and then the voter was to submit documents of proof on citizenship.
However, mid-way through SIR, ECI began to quietly tweak the process amid considerable voter stress over document requirements. Switching its original rulebook, ECI began to accept the mandatory Enumeration Forms (EFs) without documents and said that they could follow later. Following the Supreme Court orders, it also agreed to accept Aadhaar as identity documents. Amid the Bihar SIR, ECI sources also held out that a “large number” of possible foreign nationals were found on state’s rolls. However, at the end of the high voltage exercise when Bihar had shaved off over 68 lakh electors and posted a final roll of 7.3 crore, the “foreign” hand was not accounted for, with ECI never revealing the number of illegal voters found and the trend still holds.
WEST BENGAL: THE BATTLEGROUND
In a state known to face considerable political and electoral violence as well as migrant influx, a tight deadline was never going to be easy. However, West Bengal SIR stands out. Dragged through courts, even ongoing, the state SIR saw ECI introduce several new elements from micro-observers to categories like ‘logical discrepancy’ which have ended up in mass deletions amid a charged political atmosphere. The staggering 91 lakh deletions has now brought in a court-mandated and tribunal-led ‘adjudications’ — a rare one where electoral roll eligibility is being determined not by ECI but by the judiciary. Such is the scale and confusion around the process that there is a clear, unprecedented and deeply unfortunate spectre of lakhs of possibly eligible citizens missing the chance to participate in an assembly election to be held next week due to a poorly managed process.
THE POLL VAULT IN UTTAR PRADESH
There is also the questionable ECI decision of holding SIR in poll-bound states/UTs in a tight three-month timeframe. The anxiety saw state governments from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal moving the SC over manpower constraints and voter distress amid tight deadlines. In contrast, ECI spared poll-bound Assam from the SIR citingthe pending complication of National Register of Citizens (NRC). However, It is the UP model of SIR, also part of Phase 2, that stands in starkest contrast. Uttar Pradesh was given as many as four deadline extensions to complete the claims and objections period to satisfaction and published its final roll on April 9 instead of the original February deadline. The same could be allowed as the populous state had a full year to go to assembly elections in February 2027.
As a result, even with over 2 crore electors struck off rolls in UP, one has so far not seen the kind of public frustration and political opposition on deletions as seen in West Bengal. The UP model of SIR, in fact, is the one ECI always followed for IR in the past, staying off election-bound states. So much so that, in 2004 when it conducted an IR in eight states, ECI chose to leave out pollbound Arunachal Pradesh and Maharashtra, considering its proximity to elections. Gujarat, also not headed to polls, reflects the same trend.
Even witha high 13.4% deletion rate and 68 lakh people off final electoral rolls, the bulk of citizen concerns could be more peacefully addressed. There are also reports of several cases of ‘deleted’ electors going to court and winning back a place on the rolls and due voting rights, which was possible due to the availability of time given that assembly elections in the state are lined up for December 2027. The same would apply to Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan — all states at reasonable distance from assembly elections.
KERALA TO TAMIL NADU
These two poll-bound states also saw state governments move the court against SIR. Kerala, in fact, did not get any reprieve despite its contention that its workforce was busy with local polls. However, there was considerably less public and political anxiety in the two states and much, ECI insiders say, has to do with a more robust data processing system and administrative efficiency that enabled electoral roll revision in a more fair and painless manner.
