Voting lists have shrunk by 1.7 lakh crore (8%) in 9 states/UTs under the second phase of SIR.

NEW DELHI: With nine of the 12 states included in the second phase of the Special Intensive Review (SIR) publishing their final electoral lists — including six on Saturday — the electorate fell by 7.9% to 19.7 lakh crore, compared to Rs 21.4 lakh crore at the time of the announcement of the SIR exercise on October 27, 2025.More than 1.7 crore voters have been removed from the electoral rolls of the nine states/union territories – Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Goa and Andaman and Nicobar Islands – due to SIR. While the final electoral lists for Gujarat, Puducherry and Lakshadweep were published earlier, the lists for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Goa and Andaman and Nicobar were published on Saturday.Interestingly, the range of net decline in voter numbers at the end of the SIR ranges from 16.9% in Andaman and Nicobar and 13.4% in Gujarat to just 0.3% in Lakshadweep and 3.2% in Kerala. While four of the nine states/union territories recorded net deletions higher than the overall average of 7.9%, the opposite was the case in five states/union territories.Three states – West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu – have not published their final electoral lists as part of the second phase of the SIR.

While the Tamil Nadu list will be released on February 23, the schedule for West Bengal is February 28 and for UP, April 10.Of the six states where the SIR results were concluded, Gujarat saw the highest net decline in its electorate since the beginning of the SIR, by about 68 lakh or 13.4%. The number of voters in Chhattisgarh decreased by 11.8% and in Goa by 10.7%. The remaining three states saw a modest decline: with the final electorate falling in Kerala by 3.2%, Madhya Pradesh by 5.9%, and Rajasthan by 5.7%.Among the US, only Andaman and Nicobar saw a sharp, sharp decline of 16.9% in the number of voters. The number of voters in Puducherry was 7.6% lower than on 27 October 2025; The decline in Lakshadweep was just over 0.3%.While the first phase of the SIR completed last year was exclusive to Bihar, Assam saw only a special brief review. There are 22 other states and territories that have not yet conducted an SIR. The European Commission recently indicated that it may start the next phase of the SIR in April.