Election Commission

Suvendu Adhikari urges EC for stricter monitoring during SIR in West Bengal

Earlier this week, Suvendu wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner, alleging a violation of the "neutrality" principle and misuse of police by the TMC government during the SIR exercise

ECI extends nationwide SIR process by one week amid ongoing roll updates

The Election Commission on Sunday extended by one week the entire schedule of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in nine states and three Union Territories. In a statement, the poll authority said the enumeration form distribution will now continue till December 11 instead of December 4. The draft electoral rolls will now be published on December 16 in place of December 9, while the final voters' list will be out on February 14, 2026 in place of February 7. The EC had announced SIR in these states and UTs on October 27.

EC directs West Bengal DGP to protect poll officials during SIR exercise

The Election Commission wrote to West Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar, directing him to ensure the security of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) during the SIR exercise after receiving reports that there is "an apparent threat" to their safety. This is EC's second letter to the state government in three days, expressing concern over the security of poll officials in West Bengal. On Wednesday, the EC wrote to Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Kumar Verma over a "serious security breach" at the CEO's office, following an agitation by a section of BLOs against "excessive work pressure". The EC wrote to the DGP on Friday as state BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya urged Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to immediately visit the state and personally assess what he alleged was an "atmosphere of fear, coercion and intimidation" of BLOs by the ruling Trinamool Congress. "It has come to the notice of the Election Commission of India from various quarters that there is an apparent threat to the safety a

TMC delegation meets full bench of EC amid row over SIR in West Bengal

Amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, a 10-member Trinamool Congress delegation led by Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien met the full bench of the Election Commission here on Friday. The delegation included TMC Lok Sabha MPs Satabdi Roy, Kalyan Banerjee, Pratima Mondal, Sajda Ahmed, and Mahua Moitra, and Rajya Sabha MPs Dola Sen, Mamata Thakur, Saket Gokhale, and Prakash Chik Barik. The meeting comes against the backdrop of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's letter to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, seeking his "immediate intervention" on two recent concerns. Banerjee referred to the state CEO's direction to district election officers not to engage contractual data-entry operators and Bangla Sahayata Kendra staff for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), voters' list cleanup exercise, or other poll-related work, and a proposal to set up polling booths inside private residential complexes. It also follows the T

'Big conspiracy' against people: Akhilesh Yadav slams BJP on SIR exercise

SP president Akhilesh Yadav has made a fresh attack on the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, saying it was a "big conspiracy" against the people of the country that could push citizens into a state "worse than the colonial era." Posting a 20-second video on the SIR process on his official X handle on Thursday evening, Yadav appealed to all opposition parties, including allies of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), to "unite and expose this mega-conspiracy of the BJP." Attacking the roll revision exercise, he charged, "This is a fraud with democracy. People must stay alert. Today votes are being cut, tomorrow names will be removed from land records, ration cards, caste certificates, reservations, and later even from bank accounts and lockers of the middle-class." In a detailed post, the SP chief said, "This is a major conspiracy against the people of this country which will lead to a situation far worse than the colonial era. This i

26 BLOs deaths in 20 days like 'murder in daylight': Supriya Shrinate

Earlier, on Wednesday, she accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of "blatant vote theft" through the SIR of electoral rolls in West Bengal

No requests for EVM check from defeated candidates in Bihar election: EC

Poll authorities in Bihar have not received any application from candidates who were defeated in the recently-held Assembly polls with a request for EVM burnt-memory or microcontroller verification, the Election Commission (EC) said on Thursday. It said no similar request was received for the eight Assembly bypolls held along with the second phase of polling in the Bihar election on November 11. Following directions from the Supreme Court, the EC had issued revised standard operating procedures on post-counting checking and the verification of burnt memory or microcontroller of electronic voting machines (EVMs) on June 17, under which candidates at serial number 2 or 3, behind the highest-polled candidates, could seek checking and verification of EVMs within seven days of the declaration of the poll results. The results of the Bihar election and Assembly bypolls were announced on November 14.

2.6 mn names in current Bengal voter list do not match with 2002 rolls: EC

The Election Commission has reported that nearly 26 lakh voters' names in West Bengal's current electoral rolls are not matching with the voter list of 2002, an official said on Wednesday. The discrepancy emerged after the state's latest voter list was compared with the lists prepared across different states between 2002 and 2006 during the previous SIR exercise, he said. According to Election Commission sources, more than six crore enumeration forms in West Bengal had been digitised by Wednesday afternoon under the ongoing SIR process. "Once digitised, these forms are brought under the mapping procedure, where they are matched against the previous SIR records. Initial findings show that the names of around 26 lakh voters in West Bengal cannot yet be reconciled with the data from the last SIR cycle," the official told PTI. "Many voters or their families whose names appeared in those earlier lists may have subsequently migrated to West Bengal. Such voters remain Indian citizens, mak

Nearly 1.4 mn SIR forms identified as 'uncollectable' so far in West Bengal

Nearly 14 lakh SIR enumeration forms have so far been identified as "uncollectable" in West Bengal, the Election Commission said on Tuesday. These forms are "uncollectable" since the voters were either absentee, duplicate, dead or permanently shifted, an official said. The figure was 10.33 lakh on Monday. "As of Tuesday noon, the number stood at 13.92 lakh... We expect this figure to continue rising daily as more updates roll in," he said. Booth Level Officers (BLOs), tasked with collecting data from households across the state, have been actively engaged in distributing the forms and gathering necessary details. More than 80,600 BLOs, along with around 8,000 supervisors, 3,000 Assistant Electoral Registration Officers and 294 Electoral Registration Officers, have been engaged for the revision exercise in West Bengal, officials said. So far, three BLOs have died in the state amid the ongoing SIR.

Mamata questions SIR in BJP states, warns Centre over voter deletions

Mamata said the SIR exercise was creating fear and confusion, alleging the EC had turned into a "BJP Commission" by pushing through a hurried voter list revision ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls

TMC accuses Election Commission of bias, links SIR to multiple deaths

The Trinamool Congress on Saturday accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of acting to appease a particular political party and linked the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) to recent multiple deaths, including those of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and ordinary citizens. The party also claimed that 34 people in the state have died during the ongoing SIR exercise and demanded that the ECI take responsibility for these deaths. Senior TMC leaders Arup Biswas, Chandrima Bhattacharya and Partha Bhowmick visited the CEO's office on Saturday and submitted a memorandum outlining these concerns. "Work that normally takes two years is being compressed into two months. The Commission is being accused of trying to favour a political party. The names of 150 to 200 voters are being deliberately omitted at each booth. The Commission's website is full of errors. These lapses are costing lives," senior West Bengal minister Arup Biswas told reporters. The TMC leaders also alleged that B

Two BLOs die across two districts in MP; families allege SIR work pressure

Two teachers-cum-Booth Level Officers (BLOs) tasked with conducting voter list survey for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) died of "illness" in Raisen and Damoh districts of Madhya Pradesh on Friday, officials said. Relatives and friends of the deceased teachers-cum-BLOs, however, blamed heavy workload and pressure to meet enumeration targets as the reasons for the deaths. Separately, a BLO has been missing for the past six days in the Raisen district, and efforts are underway to trace him, officials said. The two BLOs who died on Friday late night were identified as Ramakant Pandey and Sitaram Gond (50). They were posted in Raisen and Damoh districts, respectively. "Ramakant Pandey, a teacher from the Satlapur area, was working on the voter list revision drive in Mandideep.. He died late Friday night due to some illness," sub-divisional officer (SDO) and electoral registration officer of Bhojpur Assembly constituency, Chandrashekhar Shrivastava, told PTI on Saturday. We are .

Congress to rally against alleged 'vote chori' at Ramlila Maidan on Dec 14

The Congress on Friday announced that it will hold a rally on December 14 at Ramlila Maidan here, against the alleged "vote chori". It alleged that the Election Commission of India (ECI) is now a "blatantly partisan player" that is "completely destroying" the very concept of a level-playing field for all political parties during elections. Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal said the spectre of "vote chori" is the biggest danger looming over our democracy today. "To send a message across the nation against these attempts to destroy our Constitution, the Congress will hold the 'Vote Chor Gaddi Chhod' Maha Rally on December 14 (1.30 pm onwards) at Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi," he said on X. "We have received crores of signatures from every corner of India, rejecting the BJP-ECI's nefarious tactics like adding bogus voters, deleting opposition-inclined voters, and manipulating voter rolls at a mass scale," Venugopal said. Every Indian has seen how the ECI bends rule

Bihar mandate rejects infiltrators, backs EC's voter list review: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said the victory of the BJP-led NDA in the Bihar polls was a mandate against infiltrators in the country because citizens will never favour those parties that support such illegal immigrants. Shah said some political parties are opposing the ongoing SIR (special intensive revision) of the Election Commission as they want to make sure that names of infiltrators remain on the electoral rolls. He described the SIR as purification of voters' list. He was addressing the BSF Diamond Jubilee (61st Raising Day) celebrations in Bhuj, in Gujarat's Kutch district. Today, the BSF (Border Security Force) is engaged in preventing infiltration at all borders of the country. Stopping infiltration is not only essential for national security but also to protect the democratic system of the country from being polluted, he said. However, some political parties are trying to weaken the government's anti-infiltration campaign, he said. The Opposition, including t

Suvendu accuses Mamata of undermining EC, shielding 'illicit vote-bank'

Ratcheting up the political temperature around the SIR, senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari has written to CEC Gyanesh Kumar, accusing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of trying to undermine the Election Commission and shield an illicit vote-bank her party has nurtured for years. Adhikari's letter to the CEC came hours after Banerjee's communication to the poll panel on Thursday in which she slammed the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as chaotic and coercive. The Leader of the Opposition in the assembly hit back late on Thursday with a four-page counter, calling her missive to the EC misleading, politically motivated and factually distorted. He dubbed the CM's objections as nothing less than a desperate attempt to derail a clean-up drive that threatens her political ecosystem. The Chief Minister's letter is a calculated attempt to sow discord among election officials, discredit the ECI's constitutional mandate and protect a vote-bank of ineligible and .

West Bengal SIR: Mamata Banerjee writes to EC, seeks immediate intervention

The Chief Minister expressed serious concerns about the ongoing SIR, citing inadequate planning, insufficient training, and unrealistic timelines that are "compromising the process's credibility"

Mamata slams ECI after death of BLO, alleges 'unbearable SIR pressure'

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday expressed shock over the death of a Booth Level Officer (BLO) in Jalpaiguri's Mal block, alleging that the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has imposed "inhuman" pressure on field workers and led to 28 deaths so far. The chief minister claimed the deceased an anganwadi worker engaged as a BLO died by suicide due to the "unbearable pressure" of the revision exercise being undertaken by the Election Commission of India (ECI). In a strongly worded statement posted on X, Banerjee criticised the Election Commission for what she described as an "unplanned, relentless workload" ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. "Deeply shocked and saddened. Today again, we lost a Booth Level Officer in Mal, Jalpaiguri an anganwadi worker who took her own life under the unbearable pressure of the ongoing SIR work," she wrote on X. She said 28 people have already lost their lives since SIR began, some due to fear and .

Assam to undergo special electoral roll revision as ECI sets 2026 deadline

During the SIR drive being carried out in other states, the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are tasked with conducting house-to-house verification using blank forms

EC clarifies to SC that Aadhaar won't be used to verify citizenship

The Election Commission of India has told the Supreme Court that it had already issued instructions for using the Aadhaar card as proof of identity and not of citizenship, for inclusion or exclusion in the revised voter list of Bihar. In a reply filed in the top court, the poll panel said that the court on September 8 had already clarified the usage of Aadhaar for updating the voter list. It said the court had stated that the Aadhaar card was to be used for the purpose of establishing identity in view of Section 23(4) of the Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1950 . Section 23 of the RPA deals with the inclusion of names in electoral rolls. " by following the aforesaid order, the commission has already issued instructions dated September 9, 2025, to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Bihar for usage of Aadhaar card as proof of identity and not as proof of citizenship for the purpose of inclusion or exclusion in the revised voter list of the state of Bihar," the poll panel ...

Akhilesh Yadav blames SIR after Mahagathbandhan rout in Bihar elections

Akhilesh Yadav's remarks came after Congress' Pawan Khera described the contest in Bihar as one between CEC Gyanesh Kumar and the people of Bihar