ECI extends SIR schedule, final rolls now on February 14
Poll panel officials rejected the Opposition’s charge and said the deadline was extended to give enough time to BLAs to go through the voter lists.
The Election Commission (EC) on Sunday extended by a week the schedule for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across 12 states and Union Territories, amid Opposition claims that the earlier “tight timelines” were hindering voters and officials. The poll panel, however, said the extension was meant to ensure “full transparency”.
In a statement, EC said the distribution of enumeration forms will now continue until December 11, instead of the earlier deadline of December 4. The draft electoral rolls will be published on December 16, replacing the previous date of December 9, while the period for filing claims and objections will now remain till January 15, 2026. The final voters’ list will now be published on February 14, instead of February 7.
“An additional week is being given for sharing details of absent, shifted, dead, and duplicate electors by the BLOs [Booth-Level Officers] with the BLAs [Booth-Level Agents] before preparing the draft rolls so as to ensure full transparency,” a poll panel functionary said on condition of anonymity.
On October 27, the panel announced the launch of the second phase of the SIR across nine states and three UTs, covering nearly half of India’s billion-strong electorate in an exercise that has become a political flashpoint. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal fall under this phase. Among them, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal are due for Assembly elections in 2026.
The Opposition mounted an attack on the poll panel over the revised schedule, saying it indicated that the EC started the exercise without adequate preparation and at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav said a one-week extension was not enough, adding that BLOs were under pressure to meet deadlines, which was affecting their “physical and mental well-being.”
“The EC has paid no attention to this logical and practical demand. It seems the Commission has become insensitive and unconcerned about the problems,” he said in a statement.
The Trinamool Congress, which has linked 40 deaths in the state to the exercise, said the revised schedule vindicated its stand that the process was “ill-conceived” and “hasty.”
“The EC announced the second phase of the SIR in a hurry under instructions from the BJP. The chaos that followed, and now the extension of the deadline, shows how unprepared the Commission is,” the party’s West Bengal vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar said.
Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said the EC had “finally realised” that the SIR could not be completed within the earlier deadline and urged the poll panel to adopt the more extensive schedule used during the 2003 revision.
Poll panel officials rejected the Opposition’s charge and said the deadline was extended to give enough time to BLAs to go through the voter lists.
“The SIR is set to finish well within the new schedule deadline. The extension has been given so that the BLAs of all political parties can vet the list properly,” a second EC official said on condition of anonymity.
The BJP also countered the Opposition’s attack, saying it was within the EC’s jurisdiction to revise the SIR schedule. “It is a procedural step by the EC to roll out the SIR exercise in a foolproof manner. The TMC wants to stall the SIR as it seeks to win with the votes of infiltrators,” Union minister and BJP leader Sukanta Majumdar said.
A section of BLOs in West Bengal, who were demanding an extension for the exercise, called Sunday’s announcement a “partial victory” but maintained that they need more time to conduct the SIR properly.
“We need at least two more months, if not three, to do our job thoroughly,” one of the agitating BLOs, a schoolteacher, said, requesting anonymity.
The revised schedule also comes amid uneven progress across states in the digitisation of enumeration data. Official figures show that while the distribution of forms is nearly complete across the 12 regions—with overall coverage at 99.65%—digitisation remains slow in several large states. Uttar Pradesh, which has over 150 million electors and the highest deployment of Booth-Level Officers, has digitised only 69.56% of forms so far. Kerala has completed 81.19%, Gujarat 85.96%, and Tamil Nadu 87.64%.
(With inputs from Kolkata bureau and agencies)
