Page 4 - Election Commission Of India

Bihar Assembly elections Phase 1: Key dates, candidates, political parties

Bihar Assembly elections 2025: The current assembly's term ends on November 22, 2025; as many as 2,616 candidates are in the race across both phases

SIR exercise to begin in Bengal, UP today amid charged political climate

The Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls will begin in West Bengal on Tuesday, amid soaring political temperatures over the routine administrative exercise in the state. The exercise turned into a political battleground, pitting the BJP's clout and the poll body's push for "transparency" against the TMC's grassroots resistance ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls. While the BJP has welcomed the SIR as a step towards ensuring greater transparency in the electoral rolls, the ruling TMC has questioned its timing and intent, alleging that the Election Commission (EC) is acting under pressure from the saffron party to manipulate the voter list ahead of the state elections next year. With both parties treating the SIR as a prelude to the 2026 Assembly elections, the contest has morphed into what many in political circles describe as "the battle of two forces, the administrative and the organisational". The BJP, buoyed by the Election Commission's "proacti

SIR exercise to begin in 12 states, Union territories from Tuesday

Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the Election Commission's voters' list cleanup exercise, will commence in nine states and three Union territories from Tuesday. SIR in these states and Union territories with 51 crore voters will conclude on February 7, 2026, with the publication of the final electoral roll. After Bihar, this is the second round of SIR. The state's final voter list with nearly 7.42 crore names was published on September 30. The 12 states and Union territories where the second round of SIR will be conducted are the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Among these, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and West Bengal will go to polls in 2026. In Assam, another state where polls are due in 2026, the revision of electoral rolls will be announced separately as a Supreme Court-supervised exercise to verify citizenship is underway in the state. Also, a ...

Voter list revision drive milestone in making of Indian democracy: CEC

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has said the voter list revision drive in Bihar was a "purification" exercise and a milestone in the making of Indian democracy. Addressing the gathering at IIT-K on its foundation day on Sunday, the CEC said "the world's biggest voter list purification exercise was conducted in Bihar alone and once the drive is extended to 51 crore voters in 12 states, it will mark a historic achievement for the Election Commission and the nation". When this process is completed across the country, people will feel proud not just of the Election Commission but of India's democratic strength, Kumar said while addressing the gathering. The Election Commission recently announced that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) would be conducted between November and February in 12 states and Union Territoriesincluding Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and West Bengalall of which are scheduled to hold assembly elections in 2026. The CEC was in the city to attend the ..

ECI has zero tolerance for violence, ready for peaceful Bihar polls: CEC

He assured the voters of Bihar that the numerous police officials, returning officers, zilla parishad officials are ready to conduct a free and fair elections

Election Commission begins training booth-level officers for SIR in Bengal

The Election Commission on Saturday began a training programme for booth-level officers (BLOs) in West Bengal for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The training programme, being held in various districts, would be completed by November 3, with the SIR process scheduled to begin the following day, officials said. In south Kolkata's Nazrul Mancha, training was underway for BLOs of Bhabanipur, Rashbehari, Ballygunge, Tollygunge, Kasba, Jadavpur, Metiabruz, Behala Purba and Behala Paschim assembly constituencies, they said. The sessions are being held in batches, they added. The EC has issued a 16-point guideline for BLOs as part of the SIR exercise, and introduced a new mobile app to streamline field operations, officials said. During the training, BLOs are being provided with special kits and detailed instructions on the SIR process, they added. From November 4 to December 4, BLOs will visit households to carry out voter verification and form-filling work. A

Bengal, UP, TN, Kerala among 12 states, UTs to be covered in SIR 2.0

EC to announce schedule for Assam separately

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

EC to hold presser on pan-India SIR of voters list on Monday evening

The Election Commission will hold a press conference to announce pan-India Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters' list on Monday evening, officials said. While complete details were still awaited, the poll authority is likely to announce the first phase of SIR in which 10 to 15 states will be covered, including those going to Assembly polls in 2026. Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry are scheduled to go to polls next year.

EC may launch 1st phase of pan-India SIR next week, covering 10-15 states

Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal will go to polls in 2026 and will be among the first states where the Election Commission begins voter list revision

Ahead of Bihar polls, ECI warns parties against using AI-generated content

The Election Commission on Friday asked all political parties to label AI-generated content, disclose creators, and remove misleading material within three hours ahead of Bihar Assembly polls

Bihar polls: EC issues vouchers for parties' free airtime on DD, AIR

EC stated that free broadcasting and telecasting facilities, with a base time of 45 minutes, have been allotted on both Doordarshan and AIR for each party

Bihar polls: ECI directs enforcement agencies to prevent use of money power

Poll body said that expenditure Observers have already been deployed to monitor the election expenses incurred by the Candidates

ECI makes pre-certification mandatory for political ads on social media

The Election Commission has directed all national and state parties, as well as contesting candidates, to obtain MCMC approval before publishing or airing any political advertisements

EC makes pre-certification of political ads mandatory ahead of Bihar polls

ECI stated that every registered national and state political party, as well as all contesting candidates, are required to submit applications to the MCMC for pre-certification

Maharashtra SEC asks EC to defer voter list revision until local body polls

The Maharashtra State Election Commission has requested the Election Commission to defer its plan, if any, to roll out Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state until January 2026, citing the upcoming local body polls. The State Election Commission (SEC), in its letter dated September 9, stated that officials will be busy conducting the elections to local bodies. "The honourable Supreme Court of India has vide its order dated 6th May 2025 directed the State Election Commission to make an endeavour to conclude the elections to local bodies in Maharashtra within a period of four months while granting liberty to the State Election Commission to seek extension of time in appropriate cases," it said. Elections to all 29 municipal corporations, all 247 municipal councils, 42 nagar panchayats out of 147 town councils, 32 out of 34 zilla parishads, and 336 out of 351 panchayat samitis are due in Maharashtra, a senior official said on Monday. The SEC also pointed out

ECI allows 12 alternative IDs for voting, special measure for veiled women

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said Aanganwadi workers will assist in verifying the identity of 'burqa-clad' or voters in 'ghunghat' at all Bihar polling booths

Don't misuse AI-based tools in Bihar poll campaigning: EC to parties

The Election Commission has warned political parties against misusing AI to create deepfakes or distort information in the Bihar assembly polls. In a statement on Thursday, the poll authority also reminded parties of its instructions to prominently label Al-generated or synthetic content being shared for campaigning through their social media platforms or in the form of advertisements. Parties, star campaigners and candidates should prominently declare that the content is "Al-Generated", "Digitally Enhanced", or a "Synthetic Content". It cautioned that a strict watch on social media posts is being kept to ensure that the election atmosphere is not vitiated. "The Commission advised the parties against misuse of AI based tools to create deep fakes that distort information or propagate misinformation over social media platforms emphasizing the need to uphold the integrity of the electoral process," it said. Amid the last Lok Sabha elections, EC had come out with a set of directives

EC couldn't tell how many non-citizens removed from Bihar roll: Congress

The Congress on Tuesday said much was made of the need of the SIR exercise to remove non-citizens from the electoral roll but the Election Commission has not had the integrity or the courage to enlighten the country on how many such non-citizens in Bihar were removed from the voter list. The opposition party also said if the poll body had informed as to how many such non-citizens in Bihar were removed from the electoral roll, it would have been even more exposed than it already is. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh noted that the Supreme Court hearing on the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR) resumes Tuesday. He also shared on X an analysis of the SIR exercise published in a newspaper. "This fine analysis shows that the entire SIR exercise bulldozed through by the Election Commission has failed on all three counts of completeness, equity, and accuracy," Ramesh said. "Much was made of the need of the SIR exercise to remove non-citizens from the .

Bihar Assembly Elections 2025: Check phase-wise constituency list here

Out of 243 seats, 121 constituencies will go to the polls in the first phase, while the remaining 122 constituencies will vote in the second phase