51 Cr Voters Under Lens: India's Biggest Voter List Cleanup In 2 Decades Begins

EC's Massive Drive to Clean Indian Voter Lists; Foreign & Duplicate Voters Face Axe

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the second phase of its nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, a process being undertaken after more than two decades. The press conference, addressed by the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar, detailed the reasons for this massive exercise. The speaker stated that reasons for the revision included, 'migration... a foreign citizen's name is entered in the voter's list... Death hone ke baad bhee uska naam na hataya Jana.' This second phase of the comprehensive clean-up will be conducted in 12 states and union territories, following a similar exercise in Bihar. The primary goal of the SIR is to create an accurate and error-free voter list by removing duplicate entries, names of deceased persons, and ineligible foreign citizens, while ensuring every eligible citizen is included. The legal basis for this revision is provided under the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and Article 324 of the Constitution.