UP political parties intensify efforts as voter list revision deadline nears

With only a week remaining before the deadline for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in Uttar Pradesh, which ends on December 26, political parties have stepped up their efforts to complete the exercise on time.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Congress have deployed their booth-level agents (BLAs) and workers to ensure that no eligible voter is left out.

Approximately 2.96 crore voters are at stake in this process, whose names may be removed from the voter list after being categorised as “untraceable.” All political parties fear that if supporters’ names are deleted, it could adversely affect the 2027 Assembly elections.

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According to the revised schedule issued by the Election Commission, the enumeration phase will conclude on December 26, the draft voter list will be published on December 31, and the period for claims and objections will run from December 31 to January 30.

State Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said on Saturday that district election officers have been instructed to verify deceased, transferred and absent voters. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have been asked to seek assistance from BLAs in identifying missing voters.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath clarified on Friday that the winter session of the Assembly (December 19–24) was kept short because most MLAs are engaged in the SIR exercise and wish to make full use of the extended deadline provided by the Election Commission. Earlier, on December 14, the Chief Minister had said that about four crore voters were missing from the voter list, of whom 85 to 90 percent were “our” voters.

The BJP has convened an organisational meeting of all MPs and MLAs of the state in Lucknow on Sunday. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will also attend the meeting, scheduled at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan. According to party sources, the main agenda is to review incomplete SIR forms and booth-level work. State General Secretary Dharampal Singh has also raised the issue with the party’s state and central leadership.

Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party (SP) is relying on its “PDA guardians” for the Special Summary Revision (SSR) of the electoral rolls. Party president Akhilesh Yadav is personally monitoring the process, and party workers have been directed to protest and expose any irregularities they encounter. SP National General Secretary Rajendra Chaudhary said the party is documenting irregularities daily and submitting the information to the Election Commission to ensure that no legitimate voter’s name is removed.

BSP chief Mayawati has asked party workers to give top priority to the SSR exercise and has instructed them to suspend organisational activities for a few days. She emphasised that the poor, labourers, the oppressed and members of the Bahujan Samaj must not be deprived of their constitutional right to vote.

Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee President Ajay Rai said the party has intensified its SSR work, assigning responsibilities to senior leaders and former MLAs in various districts. He demanded a two-month extension of the voter list revision deadline, citing Uttar Pradesh’s large population and winter conditions such as cold and fog.

With the SSR deadline approaching, voter list revision has become a central political issue in Uttar Pradesh, and activity around it is expected to intensify in the coming days.