The Election Commission will on Monday announce the first phase of the pan-India Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The announcement will cover 10–15 states/UTs, including poll-bound West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, and Puducherry.
The upcoming crucial EC presser has triggered sharp political reactions across party lines in the aftermath of the highly controversial Bihar SIR.
Tamil Nadu CM and DMK chief MK Stalin accused the saffron party of “plotting to remove names from the voter list” ahead of state polls, as in Bihar. He alleged that the SIR in Bihar “excluded 65 lakh voters.”
DMK and other INDIA bloc parties have alleged that the BJP government is “attempting to use the EC as its puppet to replicate the same in Tamil Nadu,” Stalin said in a letter to party cadres. “BJP and its ally AIADMK believe that if the names of voters from the working class, minorities, Scheduled Castes, women, and the poor are deleted through SIR, they can secure winnability without facing the people. But this calculation will fail in Tamil Nadu,” he said.
Meanwhile, UP Cabinet Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar termed the decision a “good initiative.” He said, “The Election Commission is working in the right direction. Its intention is that when a person has the right to cast only one vote, his name should be mentioned at only one place. This is a good initiative.”
#WATCH | Delhi: On the Election Commission’s announcement for the schedule of SIR, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari says, “…All leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, had set out to defend the Constitution. At that time of the Lok Sabha elections, the intention was to cut the votes of the… pic.x.com/AsKq7Fb9fr
— ANI (@ANI) October 27, 2025
Congress MP Pramod Tiwari said that all leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, had set out to defend the Constitution. At that time of the Lok Sabha elections, the intention was to cut the votes of the Scheduled Castes, minorities, the poor, and the backward classes, he added.
“The BJP wanted to take away the voting rights that Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar had provided in the Constitution… Now they are taking the Election Commission’s support. They should tell how many infiltrators are in Bihar after the SIR, and if there are, then the Prime Minister and Home Minister should give their resignation… But the opposition will be vigilant in protecting these votes,” Tiwari said.
Welcoming the decision, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “We are aware that the Election Commission of India is holding a press conference today. If SIR is announced nationwide, we will welcome it.”
On the Election Commission’s announcement for the SIR schedule, BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh said that infiltrators, fake, and dead votes are like poison for a healthy democracy. “How can foreigners take control of the country’s elections? The right to vote in elections within India belongs only to Indians. But opposition people are taking out marches to protect infiltrators and fake votes. This is unfortunate; therefore, SIR is necessary,” he added.
#WATCH | Delhi: On the Election Commission’s announcement for the schedule of SIR, Congress leader Rashid Alvi says, “The first question that arises is that the Election Commission claims to implement SIR nationwide. The opposition has numerous objections, but why does the BJP… pic.x.com/3fLWeElffg
— ANI (@ANI) October 27, 2025
Congress leader Manikrao Thakare criticised the move calling it flawed and pointed out the hypocrisy that they are not implementing SIR in Maharashtra as BJP want to win the elections using the fake voters. He said, “There are many flaws in it which have been exposed. The elections in Maharashtra are for local bodies, and they are not even looking at the voter list for that. Nor are they letting anyone look at it. It clearly means they want to win the Maharashtra elections using those fake voters. The Election Commission should comment on the questions raised by the leaders.”
Congress leader Rashid Alvi termed it as ‘back door NRC’ and said, “The first question that arises is that the Election Commission claims to implement SIR nationwide. The opposition has numerous objections, but why does the BJP support it? Deleting votes in SIR means those votes are linked to the opposition, which is why the BJP is siding with the Election Commission… SIR is another name for NRC… SIR is strangling the country’s democracy…”
The Election Commission of India (ECI) did not include Maharashtra in its initial phase of a nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls because the Maharashtra State Election Commission urged a postponement. Local body elections are currently pending in the state, and the revision process would divert critical staff needed for those polls.
Initial phase will leave out snow-bound states/UTs of J&K, Himachal, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Ladakh. The last intensive revision of electoral rolls in India was undertaken two decades ago.