Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 15: Amidst the ongoing protest demonstrations by the Opposition INDIA bloc, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and several other social and student organisations over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls and the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, the Election Commission on Thursday ordered a Special Summary Revision (SSR) of electoral rolls in 17 states and Union Territories, focused on including new voters and those left out by the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR), amid a raging controversy over the SIR.
The states covered by this summary revision include Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal with January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for those meant to be included. Draft rolls will be published on November 12 and final rolls on January 4, 2027. UP and Punjab are to go to the polls by February 2027.
Significantly, the Special Summary Revision aims to enrol eligible voters, particularly young and first-time electors, correct errors in existing electoral roll entries and improve the accuracy of voter lists. The EC said the revision will cover The EC further added that the schedule for SSR in States and UTs where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is ongoing or has recently been completed will be announced later.
The Election Commission has directed the Chief Secretaries of all states to ensure that adequate manpower and resources are provided to all officials involved in the voter list revision process—including the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), District Election Officer (DEO), Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO), BLO Supervisors, and Booth Level Officers (BLOs).
The EC said it shall be the responsibility of the ERO for the respective assembly constituency to ensure that no eligible citizen is left out of the voter list and that no ineligible person is included.
According to the schedule issued by the EC, the rationalisation and rearrangement of polling stations will be completed by November 2, 2026 and the integrated draft electoral rolls will then be published on November 12. After this, the voters will be given a window from November 12 to December 11 to file claims and objections regarding the draft rolls and the disposal of these claims and objections is scheduled to be completed by December 28. The final electoral rolls will be published on January 4, 2027.
The notification from the EC comes hours after the Supreme Court issued a notice to the ECI, CEC Gyanesh Kumar, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi on a petition filed by Rahul Gandhi and nine other INDIA bloc leaders challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Moreover, the order from the EC comes at a time when protests are happening across the country over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. And the Opposition parties are raising concerns about the deletion of names during the exercise, and one point of dispute has been the additional declaration that applicants had to submit with Form 6 while SIR was underway.
Apart from this, the Opposition, INDIA bloc parties, and the youth group Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) are protesting in the national capital and have demanded the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
As per the notice by the Commission, UP, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa are among 17 states where Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls will be held. The term of the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly ends on May 22 next year, while the terms of 60-member Manipur, 40-member Goa, 117-member Punjab and 70-member Uttarakhand assemblies end on different dates in March 2027.
The EC order on Thursday referred to the referred to the instructions issued by the EC to its state officials on September 29 “to undertake a special drive for the enrolment of left out/young/first time eligible electors.”
Claims for inclusion are to be made in Form 6, the order says. It makes no reference to the additional SIR declaration. In an October 7 clarification, the commission had said the declaration was an additional document used only in states and UTs where SIR is being conducted. It said the ordinary forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, apply in the non-SIR period. That matter of an additional declaration is one of the many points of contention that are being heard by the Supreme Court as well.
The order sets out several “safeguards against wrongful deletions.” The Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) must personally cross-verify deletions “where the number of deletions exceeds 2 per cent of the total electors”. The same applies where one person is the objector in more than five cases. It cites the commission’s October 9 letter capping the number of Form 7 applications an individual elector can file, which it says is meant “to discourage bulk filing of applications”. Form 7 is the one through which a deletion can be sought.
It says names of permanently shifted and deceased electors may be removed only after a Form 7 application is received. In each case of deletion, the ERO must pass a speaking order after hearing the person concerned and upload it on ECINET.
Booth Level Agents (BLAs) of recognised parties may submit up to 10 forms a day to a Booth Level Officer (BLO) of the EC. If an agent files more than 30 forms during the claims period, the ERO must cross-verify them personally. Lists of claims and objections are to be published on chief electoral officers’ websites and handed to parties every week.
“In States/UTs where SIR is going on or has just been completed (viz. Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, NCT of Delhi, Odisha, Sikkim, Tripura, and Telangana), the schedule for SSR will be announced later. Also, for the 3 States/UTs namely Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, where SIR has not been started so far, schedule for roll revision will be announced in due course of time keeping in view their weather conditions,” the order added.