NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) will launch the third and final phase of Special Intensive Review (SIR) of electoral rolls in the remaining 17 states and five union territories after the results of the upcoming five assembly elections are announced on May 4, a senior poll panel official said.
So far, SIR has been implemented in 10 states and three union states in two phases, while a special review of electoral rolls has been undertaken in Assam. Four states – West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Assam – and Puducherry are heading to Assembly elections on different dates this month, and the results of all five elections will be announced on May 4.
In a letter dated February 19, Election Commission of India (ECI) Secretary Pawan Dewan directed chief electoral officers (CEOs) of the remaining 22 states and union territories, including Delhi, to complete preparatory work activities related to SIR as soon as possible, noting that the exercise “is expected to begin from April,” the senior official cited above said, declining to reveal his name.
“The process will now begin only after the results are announced on May 4, as the commission wants to ensure full administrative focus and direct manpower deployment towards the ongoing elections in five states before allocating resources for the next phase of the nationwide review process,” the official said.
The next phase of SIR will be held in 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 and Telangana. and Uttarakhand.
The third and final phase will cover approximately 370 million voters, representing approximately 38% of India’s total number of 977.9 million registered voters during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Once completed, the SIR exercise will achieve complete national coverage. “Preparations have been completed at multiple levels to ensure uniform implementation across states,” the senior official said.
The SIR was first launched in Bihar in June 2025, and was expanded nationwide on October 27, 2025, covering 12 additional states and territories in the second phase. Except for Uttar Pradesh, the final electoral rolls have been published in all the places where the SIR process was implemented. The final list for Uttar Pradesh is expected to be published on April 10, officials said. According to Election Commission of India officials, nearly 600 million voters have already been covered under the SIR process so far.
Among the states where the controversial SIR exercise was completed, West Bengal recorded the highest single-state deletion rate, with around 9.1 million names deleted from electoral rolls, followed by Tamil Nadu with 7.4 million deletions, and Gujarat with 6.8 million deletions. Bihar, where the SIR exercise was conducted in the first phase, saw 4.7 million names removed from the final list.
Uttar Pradesh — where the draft list showed a reduction of 28.9 million names, the largest single draft deletion of any state — has yet to publish its final list.
“This is the most comprehensive review of the electoral register since 2002,” the official cited above said. “The goal is to ensure that electoral rolls remain accurate, free of duplication, and reflect real voters through field verification and legal processes.”
