UP given 3rd SIR extension, draft rolls out on Jan 6

THe Election charge of republic of india (ECI) on tues extended the date stamp of publishing of the draft electoral roll in Uttar Pradesh, the third such relaxation in India’s most-populous state where nearly a fifth of the electorate is likely to face deletion under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).Uttar Pradesh CEO Navdeep Rinwa told reporters that the draft electoral roll, which will now be published on January 6, is likely to drop 28.9 million names, which will represent 18.7% of the electorate for reasons such as death, change of residence or duplication due to enrolment elsewhere.Uttar Pradesh is set to go to the polls in the spring of 2027.“As per the revised dates, the draft publication of the electoral roll will now be done on 06 January 2026. The period for receiving claims and objections has been set from 06 January to 06 February 2026,” the chief electoral officer of the state posted on X.“From 06 January to 27 February 2026, the notice phase, decision on counting forms, and disposal of claims and objections will be carried out. The final publication of Uttar Pradesh’s electoral roll will be done on 06 March 2026.” the CEO added.Uttar Pradesh is one of 12 states and Union Territories where the SIR began on November 4, covering roughly half of India’s nearly one billion-strong electorate in an exercise that has already become a political flashpoint.The initial schedule, announced on October 27, had set December 4 as the deadline for the completion of house-to-house enumeration and submission of enumeration forms. At that time, the draft roll was to be published on December 9.However, the deadline was extended on November 30 after district election officials reported delays in field-level verification and collection of data from voters. The first extension pushed the enumeration deadline by one week to December 11 and the draft roll publication to December 16.Officials cited the need for additional time to verify records related to deceased voters, those who had permanently shifted residences, and those found to be registered at multiple locations.Following this, a second extension was granted on December 11, extending the enumeration and form submission process until December 26. This also resulted in the postponement of the draft electoral roll publication from the earlier proposed date to December 31.Tuesday’s announcement marks the third Extension in the state.“Our enumeration work was completed on December 26, and the draft voter list, which was to be published on December 31, will now be published on January 6, 2026, as per the revised schedule. Thereafter, people will have one month to file claims and objections... The final voter list will be published on March 6, 2026...”For the other regions, the final rolls are set to be published on February 14, 2026.The SIR in Uttar Pradesh is important because the percentage of likely deletions is the highest among the major states and regions where the SIR is ongoing. It is also more than double the proportion seen in West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Bihar, the other big states where SIR is underway or has already taken place.Chief minister Yogi Adityanath also drew attention to the numbers earlier this month during a meeting of Bharatiya Janata Party workers. “Uttar Pradesh’s population stands at around 25 crore, of which nearly 65% should be eligible voters, translating to about 16 crore voters…However, during the SIR exercise, only around 12 crore names had been recorded so far….These are not your opponent’s voters, 85 to 90% of these missing voters are ours,” he had said on December 14.HT reported on December 19 that urban regions are likely to see the majority of the potential deletions – Ghaziabad (36.67%), Lucknow (30.88%), Kanpur Nagar (25.62%), Prayagraj (25.31%), Meerut (25.21%) and Agra (23.57%). With the exception of the rural district of Balrampur, the top eight districts with the highest number of potential deletions are likely to be all urban.ECI has said that voters whose names do not appear in the draft roll will have the opportunity to submit claims during the claims and objections period to seek inclusion after verification. Objections regarding incorrect entries can also be filed within the same window.UP chief electoral officer Navdeep Rinwa had on December 29 requested the ECI to reschedule the draft publication of the voter list to January 6 to ensure re-serialisation of electors and subsequent rationalisation of polling stations.“The Election Commission of India has issued revised dates for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state, based on the qualifying date of 01 January 2026. As per the revised dates, the draft publication of the electoral roll will now be done on 06 January 2026. The period for receiving claims and objections has been set from 06 January to 06 February 2026,” the UP CEO said on X.The announcement sparked a political controversy, with the Bharatiya Janata Party welcoming it, and the Samajwadi Party alleging discrepancies.“The SIR deadline has been extended by the Election commission to ensure that no eligible voter is left out from the voters’ list. It’s welcome,” said Hero Bajpai, state BJP spokesperson.Samajwadi Party Spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan Chand said: “It looks like the Election Commission is deliberately extending the dates to help BJP in retaining the names of their voters. SP PDA Praharis are alert and vigilant against such moves.”(With inputs from Lucknow)