Election Commission extends SIR schedule by one week; final roll now on February 14

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Sunday extended by one week the entire schedule of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in nine states and three Union Territories amid allegations by opposition parties that the "tight timelines" were creating problems for people and ground-level poll officials.

In a statement, the poll authority said the enumeration form distribution will now continue till December 11 instead of December 4. The draft electoral rolls will now be published on December 16 in place of December 9, while the final voters' list will be out on February 14, 2026 in place of February 7.

Officials said the commission took the decision to extend the timeline for all phases of the SIR based on internal discussions with chief electoral officers of states and UTs where the exercise is underway.

Alleging at least 40 deaths of booth-level officers (BLOs) during the SIR, largely by suicides due to "stress of meeting tight deadlines", the opposition parties have questioned the timing of the voters' list revision.

The EC has junked these charges, saying the exercise is going on smoothly.

Reacting to the EC's decision to revise the SIR schedule, Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said it was an indication that the poll panel knew the timelines were not "practical".

The decision to tweak the SIR schedule comes on the eve of the Winter Session of Parliament beginning Monday.

The last session was a virtual washout over demands by the opposition for a debate on the SIR, then being held in Bihar.

Opposition leaders, while emerging from an all-party meeting, on smooth functioning of the session, said they will press for a debate on SIR.

The EC had announced SIR in these states and UTs on October 27. Nearly 51 crore electors will be covered in the massive voters' list cleanup exercise.

The states and Union Territories are: the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Among these, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal will go to the polls in 2026. In Assam, where also polls are due in 2026, the revision of electoral rolls was announced separately. It is being called 'Special Revision'.

Most states had the last SIR of the voter list between 2002 and 2004, and they have nearly completed the mapping of current electors according to the last SIR held in their respective states.

The primary aim of the SIR is to weed out foreign illegal migrants by checking their place of birth. The move assumes significance in the wake of a crackdown in various states on illegal migrants, including those from Bangladesh and Myanmar.