Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Over 2 crore voters were included across 12 states and Union territories (UTs) during Phase 2 of special intensive revision (SIR), bringing down the net deletions to nearly 5.2 crore, or 10.2% of their combined electorate of about 51 crore at the start of SIR on Oct 27, 2025. Total deletions across Phase 2 states/UTs added up to 7.2 crore. However, 2 crore names were included as new voters (Form 6 by first-time voters) and existing electors enrolling at new addresses (Form 8). As per data sourced from EC, over 6.5 crore absent, shifted, dead, doubly enrolled and ‘other’ electors were identified and dropped from rolls of A&N Islands, UP, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, TN, Goa, Puducherry, MP, Rajasthan, Kerala and Lakshadweep. Another 63.2 lakh names were deleted through Form 7 (objections to inclusion in roll) and adjudication (exclusive to Bengal where 27.2 lakh names were deleted by judicial officers).
After roll clean-up, 45.8 crore voters remain on lists across 12 states and UTs
Nearly 66.9 lakh of the deletions were due to deaths, 1.3 crore due to enrolment at multiple places, 1.3 crore were found absent at registered addresses, 3.1 crore had shifted permanently; 12.7 lakh were placed in ‘others’ category. “After the purification of rolls, there now exist 45.8 crore voters in the 12 states/UTs. The deletion of over 6.5 crore ASDD and other electors who were there on the rolls but not voting and posed the risk of bogus voting in their names, has led to a pure and accurate roll, serving the purpose of SIR. This explains the all-time high turnouts in Assam and Puducherry on April 9,” said an EC official. State-wise, the percentage of roll purification (net purification divided by total electors before SIR) was the highest at 16.6% in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, followed by 13.2% in UP, 13.1% in Gujarat and 11.3% in Chhattisgarh. West Bengal ranked fifth among the 12 states/UTs in terms of purification percentage. Significantly, apart from 27.1 lakh removed from Bengal rolls after adjudication, another 6 lakh were removed based on objections to their inclusion in the roll. West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Goa recorded net deletions of 10.9%, 10.6% and 10.2%, respectively, while Puducherry witnessed 7% net decline in its electorate. States like MP, Rajasthan, Kerala and Lakshadweep saw lesser net deletions of 5.7%, 5.4%, 2.5% and 0.3%, respectively. Of the 2 crore names added to rolls across the 12 states/UTs, the highest were in UP (92.4 lakh), followed by Tamil Nadu (35 lakh), Kerala (20.4 lakh), Rajasthan (15.4 lakh), Madhya Pradesh (12.9 lakh) and Gujarat (12.1 lakh).
