Pan-India SIR: Phase-1 completed in Bihar, West Bengal among states/UTs to be covered in phase-2

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday said that the first phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise has been completed in Bihar ahead of the assembly polls successfully, with zero appeals. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar announced that the second phase of the pan-India SIR of the voters' list will begin in 12 states/union territories.

He said: “Phase two of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) will be held in 12 states and Union Territories. In the states where SIR will be conducted, electoral rolls will be frozen at midnight tonight. Later, voters will be given unique enumeration forms with all details.”

List of the states/UTs where phase-2 of pan-India SIR will take place

In this phase, the SIR will take place in 12 states/union territories. Among these, polls are scheduled to take place in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry in 2026. 

Schedule of phase 2 of SIR

He added that the printing of forms will take place, and training of EC officials will be held from October 28 to November 3 this year. The CEC mentioned that the house-to-house enumeration phase will take place from November 4 to December 4 this year. 

The publication of draft electoral rolls will take place on December 9 this year. The voters will get time to raise their objections from December 9, 2025 to January 8, 2026.

The hearing and verification of any objections and claims will take place from December 9, 2025 to January 31, 2026. The final electoral rolls will be published as of February 7, 2026.

What happened in Bihar?

CEC Kumar further said that political parties have raised concerns about the quality of the electoral rolls on several occasions.

Coming to Bihar, he said that successful voter participation was reported across more than 90,000 polling booths in Bihar with zero appeals. "The participation of voters in Bihar has set a strong example for the rest of the country," the CEC said.

Definition of elector, revision of electoral rolls

According to Article 326 of the Constitution of India, an elector should be a citizen of India; at least 18 years of age; ordinarily a resident of the constituency; and not disqualified under any law. The electoral rolls have to be revised before every election or as required. SIR has previously been done 8 times from 1951 to 2004, with the last SIR in 2004.