After Bihar, the Election Commission is now going to start Special Intensive Review (SIR) in nine states and three union territories. It will start from Tuesday (4th November). The SIR process in these states and union territories will end with the publication of the final voter list on 7 February 2026. There are 51 crore voters in these states and union territories.

This is the second phase of SIR after Bihar. The final voter list in Bihar was published on 30 September. About 7.42 crore names were included in the voter list in Bihar. In the second phase, the states and union territories where the SIR exercise will be conducted include Andaman Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Assembly elections will be held in these states in 2026

Of these, assembly elections are to be held in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and West Bengal next year. Elections are also to be held in Assam in 2026, but the revision of voter list there will be announced separately as the process to verify citizenship in the state is going on under the supervision of the Supreme Court. Also, a separate provision of the Citizenship Act applies in Assam.

What did the Election Commission say about SIR?

Announcing the new phase of SIR on October 27, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had said, “Under the Citizenship Act, there are separate provisions for citizenship in Assam. The work of citizenship verification is about to be completed under the supervision of the Supreme Court. The SIR order of June 24 was for the entire country. In such circumstances, it does not apply to Assam.

From what date will SIR start?

The process of SIR will start on 4th November and will continue till 4th December. The Election Commission will release the draft voter list on December 9 and the final voter list will be published on February 7.

Earlier SIR was done in 2002-04. The Commission believes that SIR will ensure that no eligible voter is left out and no ineligible voter’s name remains in the voter list. The primary objective of SIR is to delist illegal foreign immigrants by checking their place of birth. This step is important in view of the action against illegal immigrants in various states including Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Input – PTI