With the conclusion of the second phase of the Special Intensive Review (SIR) exercise, around 5.18 crore names have been removed from electoral rolls across 12 states and union territories.
Based on a report by news agency PTI, Election Commission data shows that, in addition to other deletions, around 60,000 dead names were removed.
After the second phase of the process, the voter lists have now reached Rs 45.81 crore, which represents a decline of 10.2 per cent.
As per EC data, as many as 66,88,636 deceased voters have been removed from the electoral rolls. From this, the maximum number of names from Uttar Pradesh has been removed – 25.47 lakh. Around 24.16 lakh names of deceased have also been removed from the voter rolls in West Bengal.
With the release of the final lists for Uttar Pradesh on Friday, the second phase of the exercise has been completed.
The second phase of SIR was implemented in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa.
Read also | At 8.4 million, the SIR in Uttar Pradesh sees the highest addition of voters from the recruitment rolls
The remaining 40 crore voters across 17 states and five union territories will be covered in the third phase of the exercise. The remaining states and union territories are – These states and union territories are: Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Ladakh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Delhi, Odisha, Punjab, Sikkim, Tripura, Telangana and Uttarakhand.
The third and final phase is expected to begin after the completion of elections in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry.
Assam, Kerala and Puducherry went to the polls on April 9 and recorded a historic turnout. Tamil Nadu is scheduled to go to the polls in a single-phase election on April 23.
Meanwhile, elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29. The results and counting of votes for all five councils will be conducted on May 4.
(With inputs from PTI)
