Poll rolls shrink by 1.7 crore (8%) in 9 states/UTs under SIR Phase 2 | India News

NEW DELHI: With nine of the 12 states covered in Phase 2 of special intensive revision (SIR) having published their final electoral roll – including six on Saturday – their combined electorate is down 7.9% to 19.7 crore, as compared to 21.4 crore at the time of announcement of SIR exercise on October 27, 2025.Over 1.7 crore electors have been struck off the electoral rolls of the nine states/UTs – Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Goa and Andaman & Nicobar Islands – on account of SIR. While the final electoral rolls of Gujarat, Puducherry and Lakshadweep were published earlier, those for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Goa and Andaman & Nicobar were published on Saturday.Interestingly, the range of net decline in electors at the end of SIR varies from a steep 16.9% in Andaman & Nicobar and 13.4% in Gujarat to just 0.3% in Lakshadweep and 3.2% in Kerala. While four of the nine states/UTs recorded net deletions above the 7.9% overall average, it was the opposite in five states/UTs.Three states – West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu – are yet to publish their final electoral roll as part of SIR phase 2. While Tamil Nadu’s roll will be out on Feb 23, the timeline for West Bengal is Feb 28 and for UP, April 10.Among the six states where SIR stands concluded, Gujarat saw the highest net decline in its electorate since the start of SIR, at around 68 lakh or 13.4%. Chhattisgarh’s electorate shrunk by 11.8% and Goa’s by 10.7%. The remaining three states saw a modest decline: with Kerala’s final electorate down by 3.2%, Madhya Pradesh’s by 5.9% and Rajasthan’s by 5.7%.Among the UTs, only Andaman and Nicobar saw a sharp net decline of 16.9% in its electors. Puducherry electorate was 7.6% less than what it was on Oct 27, 2025; the decline in Lakshadweep was just over 0.3%.While Phase 1 of SIR completed last year was exclusive to Bihar, Assam witnessed only a special summary revision. Another 22 states and UTs are yet to conduct SIR. EC recently indicated that it may start the next phase of SIR in April.