The electoral roll published after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Uttar Pradesh has come under its first major scrutiny, with allegations of altered voter details and duplicate entries prompting the Election Commission of India (ECI) to order a statewide examination of voter lists.
The immediate trigger is a Congress complaint alleging irregularities affecting 13,150 voter entries in Pilibhit Sadar assembly constituency, where the party claimed voters’ names were changed while their Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers and serial numbers remained unchanged. The commission has directed district election officers (DEOs) across UP to examine the matter and check voter lists in all assembly constituencies in their respective districts, with reports to be submitted to the chief electoral officer’s office within two days.
Earlier, when the Samajwadi Party raised the issue of duplicate voters, the ECI directed the district election officers (DEOs) and electoral registration officers (EROs) to remove duplicate entries from the voter list.
UP's election controversy
The controversy comes months after the SIR led to a substantial reduction in the state’s electoral roll, intensifying opposition concerns over deletions and discrepancies. The Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress have repeatedly questioned the accuracy of the revised lists, while the BJP has defended the exercise as necessary to eliminate duplicate entries and ensure clean electoral rolls.
{{/usCountry}}The controversy comes months after the SIR led to a substantial reduction in the state’s electoral roll, intensifying opposition concerns over deletions and discrepancies. The Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress have repeatedly questioned the accuracy of the revised lists, while the BJP has defended the exercise as necessary to eliminate duplicate entries and ensure clean electoral rolls.
{{/usCountry}}In Pilibhit, the ECI has already removed two election officials — an electoral registration officer (ERO) and a voter registration centre (VRC) operator — following a preliminary inquiry by the district election officer. Legal action has also been ordered against them. Further action will follow if the ongoing investigation establishes irregularities, officials said. The district-level reports are expected on Friday.
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Congress leader Rajendra Pal Gautam, in-charge of the UP Congress Committee, alleged at a press conference on Wednesday that 13,150 voter names had been altered in Pilibhit Sadar. He further claimed that 884 voters had been removed despite continuing to reside in the constituency and submitting applications confirming their residence, while another 2,600 names had been added despite the individuals concerned allegedly not living there.
Together, he said, the discrepancies affected over 16,554 voter entries. The SP said it had raised the Pilibhit issue before the Congress and had submitted a memorandum to the chief electoral officer. Party state secretary KK Srivastava said one of the discrepancies flagged by the SP involved an EPIC number displaying the details of another voter.
Srivastava claimed the party had lodged complaints concerning more than three lakh suspected duplicate voters across the state. It had also flagged anomalies involving prefixes and suffixes in voters’ names, he said, adding that numerous complaints and memorandums had been submitted to the ECI. The SP leader questioned whether action against two officials would be sufficient, alleging that similar irregularities could exist elsewhere. These remain allegations and are subject to verification by the election authorities.
BJP state spokesperson Dinesh Pratap Singh said a case had been registered in connection with the alteration of voter names in Pilibhit and that the Election Commission was taking appropriate action. The BJP supports the SIR as a necessary exercise to eliminate duplicate entries and ensure accuracy in the electoral roll, he said.
SIR's impact on UP's electoral roll
The scale of the revision has added significance to the latest allegations. UP’s electoral roll declined from 15.44 crore voters in the list published on October 27, 2025, to 13.39 crore in the final roll published on April 10 following the SIR — a net reduction of around 2.04 crore names.
The draft roll published on January 6 had flagged 2.89 crore voters as uncollectible. These included 1.29 crore who had permanently shifted, 46 lakh deceased voters, 25.4 lakh duplicate entries and 79.5 lakh voters who could not be traced, according to Election Commission data.
The final roll contained 13,39,84,792 voters. The subsequent deletions included 3.50 lakh people who did not respond to notices, 3.28 lakh permanently shifted or absent voters, 79,076 duplicate entries, 55,865 deceased voters and 2,269 people found to be either non-citizens or underage, according to the figures provided.
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Meanwhile, the next phase of electoral roll revision — the Special Summary Revision (SSR) — is scheduled to begin on November 12. The reorganisation and allocation of polling stations will be completed by November 2, while claims and objections can be submitted between November 12 and December 11. These will be resolved by December 28, with final voter roll scheduled for publication on January 4.
Chief electoral officer Navdeep Rinwa has directed district election officers and electoral registration officers to prioritise the resolution of duplicate entries arising from multiple applications by the same voter during the SIR.