Pan-India SIR of Voter List: ECI Announcement Expected Today

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is indeed likely to make an announcement on the pan-India Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters’ list on October 27.

Based on reports, key details include:

• What is SIR? SIR stands for Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. It is a comprehensive exercise to update and purify the voter list by including new voters, removing duplicate entries, and deleting the names of deceased or shifted voters.
• Announcement Details: The announcement is expected to be made at a press conference on October 27.
• Phased Rollout: The pan-India SIR will likely be announced and conducted in phases.
• First Phase Coverage: The initial phase is expected to cover 10-15 states/Union Territories, particularly those scheduled for Assembly polls in 2026, such as West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, and Puducherry.
• Exclusions: Some states/UTs will be left out of the initial phase, including those with imminent local body elections (like Maharashtra) and those that will soon be snow-bound (like J&K, Himachal, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Ladakh).
• Context: The last such intensive revision across the country was undertaken two decades ago. A similar SIR exercise was recently conducted in Bihar.