SIR exercise: After Bihar, Election Commission announces voter list revision in 12 states, UTs in second phase

The Election Commission on Monday announced that the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls will start soon in 12 states and union territories.

“The second phase of SIR is about to be carried out in 12 States/UTs,” Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said, addressing a press conference in New Delhi today.

The 12 states and union territories where SIR will be conducted include Andaman & Nicobar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The announcement comes ahead of several major Assembly elections to be conducted in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry.

“Today, we are here regarding the rollout of the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision. I extend my greetings to the voters of Bihar and bow before the 7.5 crore voters who took part in a successful SIR,” Kumar said, addressing the media.

He said that the poll panel had held deliberations with 36 State Election Commissioners after the Bihar SIR exercise.

The SIR exercise in 12 states will start from Tuesday, the Chief Election Commissioner said.

He said the ongoing SIR is the ninth such exercise since Independence, with the last one happening in 2002-04.

SIR Exercise: Phase II schedule

Here is the full schedule of the SIR Phase II of the electoral rolls in 12 states and UTs:

• Printing/Training: 28 October to 3 November 2025
• House to House Enumeration Phase: 4 November to 4 December 2025
• Publication of Draft Electoral Rolls: 9 December 2025
• Claims & Objection Period: 9 December 2025 to 8 January 2026
• Notice Phase (Hearing & Verification): 9 December 2025 to 31 January 2026
• Publication of Final Electoral Rolls: 7 February 2026

EC to conduct pan-India SIR

Following the SIR in Bihar, the EC had announced that it would conduct the voters' list cleanup across all states and union territories in India.

The voters' list cleanup exercise has been concluded in Bihar with the final list of nearly 7.42 crore electors published on September 30. Polling in the state will be held in two phases -- on 6 November and 11 November -- and the counting will take place on 14 November.

The Election Commission has already held two conferences with state chief electoral officers (CEOs) to firm up the SIR rollout roadmap. Several CEOs have already put the voter lists after their last SIR on their websites.