New Delhi – The Election Commission of India (ECI) has accelerated its mission to sanitize the national voter database, directing 22 states and Union Territories—including Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh—to finalize preparations for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The poll body announced that this final leg of the pan-India exercise is expected to kick off in April 2026.
With this phase, the ECI aims to cover the remaining 40 crore (400 million) voters across 17 states and five UTs, ensuring that every corner of the country is brought under the updated electoral framework initiated last June.
Scope of the Revision
The directive has been sent to the Chief Electoral Officers of several key regions, including:
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North India: Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, and Uttarakhand.
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South & West India: Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra.
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East & North-East India: Odisha, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura.
While the “cleaning” process is already complete in Bihar and a special revision concluded in Assam on February 10, nearly 60 crore voters in 12 other states are currently mid-process.
Political Friction and “Vote Theft” Allegations
The cleanup drive has not been without controversy. The Congress party and other opposition factions have raised concerns over “vote chori” (vote theft), alleging that the revision could be used to unfairly target specific demographics.
In West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took the unprecedented step of personally arguing before the Chief Justice of India, challenging the necessity and transparency of the roll cleanup. Similar legal challenges have emerged from Tamil Nadu, with parties approaching the Supreme Court to seek stays on the revision schedules, which have already seen frequent adjustments due to local administrative hurdles.
The Road to April
Despite the legal pushback, the Election Commission maintains that the Special Intensive Revision is a vital administrative duty to ensure accurate and ghost-free voter lists. Officials have urged state authorities to wrap up preliminary logistics this month to ensure a seamless rollout by the April deadline.
