The Election Commission of India is now preparing for a pan-India Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll.
The Nationwide SIR is expected to take place in a phased manner starting from November this year. Reports suggest that the SIR will begin in the states that are up for poll next year, along with a few other states.
Notably, states like Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal are headed for elections in 2026.
Reports suggest that Assam has already informed the ECI that it will conduct the intensive roll only after the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is published for the state.
Pan-India SIR different from Bihar's?
On Wednesday, the ECI held a 2nd interaction meeting with CEO's on SIR. This was the second meeting the poll body has conducted in over a month.
The ECI is most likely to follow the same principle in the nationwide SIR as in Bihar. However, the ECI will allow the electors to submit the extracts of their names from the electoral roll of any state’s last intensive revision. Unlike in Bihar’s SIR process, electors could only submit extracts only from Bihar’s last intensive revision roll.
In poll-bound West Bengal, the last intensive revision ofthe electorate was in 2002. Any voter in that list can remain in the electoral roll in any other state where he or she is currently residing.
To put it in simple words, If a citizen from West Bengal is registered as a voter in Kerala, he can stay enrolled in Kerala if he can establish a link to a voter whose name was figured in the 2002 West Bengal electoral roll.
The plan for pan-India SIR comes a month after the Bihar's final draft. The ECI received heavy flak from opposition political parties, and allegations of voter fraud were leveled against the ECI.
SIR controversy
A report suggested that the ECI has a fake voter buster software that could be used to remove the fake voters or duplicates in the electoral roll.
However, the ECI didn’t use the software during the Bihar SIR to verify the duplications or fake voters and put the burden of inclusion on the voters.
