Opposition parties have alleged that about 13 crore voters were removed from electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise carried out by the Election Commission across 20 states and Puducherry.
According to the Commission, the SIR was conducted in three phases nationwide and involved verification of 95.40 crore voters. It said 13.39 crore names were deleted for reasons such as death, permanent migration, being unavailable at the listed address, or duplicate registrations.
The Commission stated that more than 10 lakh booth-level officers conducted field verification to prepare the rolls. It added that booth-wise lists were shared with over 22 lakh booth agents of recognised political parties to ensure transparency.
After the draft rolls were published, a one-month window was provided to file objections or add missing names, the Commission said. It noted that eligible voters whose names were left out can apply for inclusion again using Form 6, and that legal avenues remain open to ensure every eligible citizen is included.
Separately, the Supreme Court said it would consider an interim petition seeking recall of a recent split verdict related to whether challenges to the Election Commissioners Appointment Act, 2023 should be referred to a Constitution Bench. The matter was mentioned before a bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, which said an appropriate decision would be taken after examining the plea.
