Election Commission announces phase two of SIR in 12 states: Check details

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said SIR exercise is being carried out in 12 states of India after several political parties raised concerns about the quality of electoral rolls

The Election Commission of India on Monday announced the rollout of phase two of special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 12 states. 

 

“Political parties have raised the issue of quality of electoral rolls on several occasions,” Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said, adding that all the states that have Assembly elections in 2026 will go under electoral revision.

 

“…In the states where SIR will be conducted, electoral rolls will be frozen at midnight today. Later, voters will be given unique enumeration forms with all details," CEC said. He added that training of polling officials for phase two of SIR to begin on Tuesday.

 

 

The Election Commission said draft electoral rolls will be published on December 9, and the final publication of electoral rolls will be declared on February 7, 2026. Around 51 crore voters will be covered under the exercise. 

The states that will go under the electoral revision include:

• Andaman and Nicobar Islands
• Goa
• Puducherry
• Chhattisgarh
• Gujarat
• Kerala
• Madhya Pradesh
• Uttar Pradesh
• Rajasthan
• West Bengal
• Tamil Nadu
• Lakshadweep

 

Among these, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal will go to the polls in 2026. Kumar clarified that in Assam, where polls are also due in 2026, the revision of electoral rolls will be announced separately.

 

Speaking about Assam, CEC Kumar said that the Citizenship Act of India contains separate provisions for the state. “Under the supervision of the Supreme Court, the checking of citizenship there is about to be completed. The 24th SIR order was for the entire country. Under such circumstances, this would not have been applicable to Assam. So, separate orders for revision will be issued for Assam,” Kumar said.

 

CEC also said that while Aadhaar is not proof of citizenship, it can be used as an identity document during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. 

#WATCH | Phase 2 of SIR | CEC Gyanesh Kumar says, "As far as the Aadhaar Card is concerned, Supreme Court has said that Aadhaar is to be used as per Aadhaar Act. Sec 9 of Aadhaar Act says that Aadhaar will not be the proof of domicile or citizenship. Supreme Court has given… pic.twitter.com/SMVoVHv0vG

— ANI (@ANI) October 27, 2025

Here is a detailed timeline of phase two SIR

• Printing/training: October 28 to November 3
• Enumeration phase: November 4 to December 4
• Publication of draft electoral rolls: December 9
• Claims & objection period: December 9 to January 8, 2026
• Notice phase (Hearing & Verification): December 9 to January 31, 2025
• Publication of Final Electoral Rolls: February 7, 2026

SIR in Bihar

The development comes after the SIR was carried across the Bihar earlier this year. During the launch of the exercise in June, the number of electors on the rolls were 78.9 million. However, the final list published last month contained details of 74.2 million voters.

 

Phase one of the SIR was completed in Bihar with zero appeals,” the CEC said, adding that this is the ninth such exercise since Independence, with the previous one held between 2002 and 2004.