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The Election Commission (EC) is likely to announce pan-India Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters’ list on Monday evening. While the invite only mentions that the EC would hold a press conference at 4.15 pm, officials told PTI it is about intensive revision of electoral rolls. 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. A look at how states and parties have reacted to the press conference announcement so far: HOW STATES ARE GEARING UP FOR PAN-INDIA SIR West Bengal: The West Bengal government has initiated transfers of nearly 64 IAS officers and 10 District Magistrates across the state, including North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Cooch Behar, Murshidabad, Purulia, Darjeeling, Malda, Birbhum, Jhargram and East Midnapore. As the reshuffle cannot happen once the SIR process begins, the state’s administrative headquarters at Nabanna issued the transfer orders ahead of time to pre-empt any procedural constraints during the revision exercise. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has planned a massive anti-SIR rally in Kolkata, which will be led by party’s National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee. Party insiders told News18 how the SIR issue will be a key element of the TMC’s election campaign narrative, and the November 2 rally will serve as a launchpad for the movement. West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee has already termed SIR as “another form of NRC”, alleging that it is a mechanism through which “voters will be deleted” from the electoral rolls. Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI) may appoint volunteers to assist booth-level officers (BLOs) during the probable special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, a senior official told PTI on Sunday. The volunteers are likely to be drawn from among government employees in each block for the exercise that may be launched soon, he said. “This is at the planning stage… These assistants will help the BLOs fill out enumeration forms and may also be deployed as substitutes, if required,” the official told PTI. The volunteers will primarily be assigned to polling stations having more than 1,200 voters, he added. “As a result of this cap on the number of voters per booth, the number of polling booths in the state is likely to increase by around 14,000, from the existing 80,000 to around 94,000,” the official said. Tamil Nadu: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Sunday charged the opposition BJP-AIADMK combine with trying to win election through SIR by “snatching away the voting rights” of people. “The BJP and its ally AIADMK are estimating that they can win (the 2026 Assembly polls) by removing the names of working class people, SCs, minorities and women through SIR. Those who don’t have the strength to face people in the electoral field and thinking that they can win by snatching away people’s voting rights–it will only end up as a miscalculation as far as Tamil Nadu is concerned,” he said. The DMK has been opposed to SIR and backing other democractic measures vis-a-vis the electoral rolls, and that too by providing adequate time, he said. “The DMK is capable of legally facing any other undemocractic measures and will also face them along with the people,” Stalin added. Maharashtra: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday termed the Opposition’s November 1 protest against voter lists as “cover fire” before its “impending” defeat in the upcoming local bodies polls. “I welcome the decision to conduct Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters’ list in the country. I would recommend that electoral rolls be prepared in blockchain method. If a voter moves to a different state, his voter ID should remain the same,” Fadnavis said. “There have been summary revisions of electoral rolls for the last 25 years, and it is high time a complete revision was done,” he said. Local body elections in Maharashtra will likely be held in the coming months. “Since 2002–2003, regardless of which government was in power, The Election Commission has continued to exist and function. Are they now trying to claim that all those commissions were wrong? The BJP must clarify this. And if that truly was the case then why was the Lok Sabha… pic.twitter.com/ksFyqgGnZm — All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) October 25, 2025 Jharkhand: Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar on Saturday held a review meeting on the preparations for Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in the State. After the meeting, the CEO said that the voter mapping process in the State is progressing rapidly. “The voter mapping process in Jharkhand is progressing rapidly, with efforts focused on accurately linking existing voters to their previous records to resolve documentation issues. The mapping includes parental and progeny links, ensuring a comprehensive and accurate voter list,” Ravi Kumar told ANI. BJP TO OPPOSITION: LEADERS REACT TO THE MOVE Union minister Sukanta Majumdar and Bengal BJP leader said Indian Muslims don’t have to worry about the SIR of voter rolls. “BJP is a secular party. Others want to divide Hindus and Muslims on religious lines. We don’t believe in that…There is no need to be afraid of SIR. If a voter was enlisted in the 2002 electoral roll, he will automatically be registered. In case a voter and either of his parents are not registered with the 2002 electoral roll, they might be an immigrant here,” he said. West Bengal’s Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, has raised concerns about the voter lists, alleging that they contain many dead and fake voters ahead of the special intensive revision (SIR) in West Bengal. Ahead of the ECI press conference on Monday, Adhikari said that the voter list should be prepared correctly. Adhikari said, “Voter lists must be prepared correctly. There are many dead and fake voters in West Bengal. There are double and triple entries. Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators are there. All of them should be removed. Bhowanipore is a BJP seat. In 2014, the BJP held a lead here. In the last Lok Sabha elections, the BJP led in five out of eight wards. Of 267, the BJP led in 142 and the TMC in 125. This is a BJP seat. The BJP’s lotus will bloom here.” Jharkhand BJP leader Pratul Shah Deo on Monday reiterated support for the nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process of voter lists, emphasising the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) independent status and asserting that the exercise would be conducted as announced. Janata Dal (United) leader Neeraj Kumar on Monday explained the need to update the electoral rolls, citing duplicate and deceased names on the voter list. Kumar stated that the Congress party has been opposing the procedure; however, it was not accepted by the judiciary. He noted that Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body and has the authority to conduct Special Intensive Revision (SIR). “It is necessary to update the voters who have duplicate entries or are deceased. In this regard, the Congress party made political objections to the SIR. But the judiciary did not accept it. So the Election Commission is a constitutional body, and it has the authority to conduct the SIR,” Neeraj Kumar told ANI. EC’s PREPAREDNESS The ECI on Thursday directed the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) to finalise their preparations for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter lists in their respective States and Union Territories, a press release by the ECI said. The ECI’s two-day Conference of CEOs on SIR preparedness concluded at the India International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Management (IIIDEM) in New Delhi. According to the press release, the Commission assessed the progress made on the directions previously issued to the CEOs to map the current electors with the electors as per the last SIR in their respective States and UTs. The ECI also interacted one-on-one with the CEOs of poll-bound States and UTs, including Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal. The conference was presided over by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in the presence of Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, the press release said. CEOs of the States and UTs from across the country attended the Conference. The Conference was a follow-up to the SIR preparedness conference held on September 10, during which all the States and UTs gave detailed presentations on the number of Electors, qualifying date of last SIR and Electoral Roll in their respective State and UT as per the last completed SIR, the press release said. In Bihar, the total number of electors in the final list stands at 7.42 crore, while there were 7.89 crore electors as of June 24 this year. A total of 65 lakh voters were removed from the draft list. In addition, 3.66 lakh ineligible electors were removed from the final list while 21.53 lakh eligible electors were added via Form 6, taking the total to 7.42 crore voters. With PTI, ANI Inputs
