SIR in Odisha: Over 20L names removed from draft electoral roll

Bhubaneswar: The names of 20.12 lakh electors have been removed from the draft electoral roll published on Sunday, triggering political uproar with BJD alleging major discrepancies in the exercise, even as BJP pointed to the Supreme Court's endorsement of the SIR process.The deletions were carried out as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Odisha, conducted between May 30 and June 28.According to an official statement issued by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Odisha, of around 3.33 crore electors, 8.32 lakh (2.49%) were found deceased, 10.07 lakh (3.02%) absent or shifted, and 1.58 lakh (0.47%) enrolled at multiple places. Another 0.14 lakh names were removed for various other reasons.Senior BJD functionaries Debi Prasad Mishra and Bijay Nayak accused election authorities of curtailing voters’ rights through a complicated verification process. The party, which claimed nearly 27 lakh voters were excluded against the official figure of 20.12 lakh, demanded fresh verification, simplification of procedure and restoration of all eligible voters excluded from the rolls.“The final electoral roll published in 2025 showed Odisha had 3.40 crore voters.

During discussions with political parties in May, the voter strength was stated to be around 3.34 crore, which later stood at 3.33 crore at the start of the SIR process. Now it is 3.13 crore. There is no consistency in the figures officially provided at different stages,” Mishra said.Defending the SIR exercise, BJP spokesperson Manoj Mohapatra said, “The Supreme Court is satisfied with the Election Commission’s SIR work.

The opposition is making these allegations with political motives. BJP believes in transparency, and we have been in favour of a transparent SIR process.”The CEO’s office said genuine electors can still be added to the electoral rolls during the claims and objections period from July 5 to Aug 4. Names of electors found enrolled at multiple places will be retained at only one place, a release from the CEO’s office said.Young electors who have attained or will attain 18 years of age on or before July 1 are being encouraged to apply through Form 6 along with the prescribed declaration form in Annexure IV. Special camps will be conducted across the state to enrol all eligible young voters.As per the SIR order, printed and digital booth-wise copies of the draft electoral roll have been provided to all recognised political parties and made available on the CEO’s website, ceoodisha.nic.in.

During the claims and objections period, any existing or prospective elector may file claims or objections for inclusion of eligible electors or deletion of ineligible names.A total of 147 electoral registration officers and 994 assistant electoral registration officers are in place to scrutinise such cases till Sept 2. If required, more assistant electoral registration officers will be notified from time to time to dispose of the claims and objections within the prescribed time limit, the statement said, adding that no eligible elector will be left out and no ineligible name will remain in the electoral rolls.