PoliticsElectoral rolls
SIR phase III: over 6.15 crore names left off draft rolls in 17 states and UTs
Maharashtra lost the most names and Delhi the largest share. The Election Commission says these are not final deletions; opposition parties allege disenfranchisement.
Key points
- Draft rolls in the 17 states and UTs published by 1 September left out more than 6.15 crore electors, Deccan Herald reported.
- Maharashtra had the largest number of exclusions (2.07 crore) and Delhi the largest share (32.78%).
- The Election Commission says names were left out because voters were absent, had shifted, had died or were registered twice, and that these are not final deletions.
- Opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi have alleged that eligible voters are being removed; the ECI calls the 'vote chori' charge part of a misleading narrative.
Draft electoral rolls published so far in the third phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) have left out more than 6.15 crore names, Deccan Herald reported on 1 September, covering the 17 states and Union Territories whose drafts were out by then. The Election Commission of India (ECI) says names left off a draft are not final deletions and can be restored through claims.
Where the cuts were deepest
Maharashtra’s draft, released on 31 August, left out 2,06,88,487 people, or 21.14% of its 9.78 crore electors, PTI reported. Delhi lost the largest share: 47,56,722 of 1.45 crore electors, or 32.78%, most of them marked “permanently shifted”, according to ThePrint.
| State or UT | Left out of draft | Share of old roll |
|---|---|---|
| Delhi | 47.57 lakh | 32.78% |
| Maharashtra | 2.07 crore | 21.14% |
| Telangana | not confirmed | about one-fifth |
| Karnataka | not confirmed | about one-fifth |
| Jharkhand | 43.62 lakh | 16.49% |
| Haryana | 33.8 lakh | 16.4% |
| Andhra Pradesh | 44.9 lakh | 10.8% |
| Punjab | 20.66 lakh | 9.7% |
Sources: ThePrint (Delhi; share calculated from its figures); Maharashtra CEO via PTI; Outlook (Telangana, Karnataka); Jharkhand CEO via The Pioneer; The Wire (Haryana, Andhra Pradesh); The Tribune (Punjab).
Within states, Outlook found deletions concentrated in some city seats. Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad had 1,79,510 deletions, 83% marked “shifted”, and Bommanahalli in Bengaluru lost 54.8% of its electorate at the draft stage.
What the Election Commission says
The ECI’s stated aim, in the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer’s FAQ, is that “No eligible citizen is left out and no ineligible person is included in the Electoral Roll.” Names are left off a draft when Booth Level Officers cannot collect an enumeration form, under the category of absent, shifted, dead or duplicate (ASDD). Jharkhand’s 43.62 lakh exclusions, for instance, included 7.63 lakh dead, 15.92 lakh permanently shifted, 14.50 lakh untraceable and 4.38 lakh registered in more than one place, according to the state CEO’s figures.
On 2 October the ECI called the claim that 13 crore voters had been removed from the rolls misleading, Free Press Journal reported. According to the report, the Commission said that figure counts electors marked absent, shifted, dead or duplicate at the draft stage across all SIR phases since June 2025, not names deleted from final rolls. It described the “vote chori” allegation as part of a misleading narrative and said about 2.37 crore voters aged 18 to 28 had been added since the SIR began.
What the opposition says
Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, described the Maharashtra exclusions as “vote theft” in a post on 1 September and alleged that the exercise was aimed at securing a BJP victory, according to PTI’s translation of his Hindi post. In Punjab, the Congress, BJP, AAP and Shiromani Akali Dal all said they were checking the draft lists booth by booth, The Tribune reported. On 8 October, Bihar’s Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav was among those detained in Patna during a Mahagathbandhan march against the SIR, IANS reported.
What happens next
Final rolls are being published state by state. In Maharashtra, the ECI extended the deadline for claims and objections to 12 October, with disposal due by 10 November and the final roll moved to 16 November, News On AIR reported. In Delhi, claims and objections now run to 30 October, Business Today reported. Voters left out can apply for inclusion using Form 6 with a declaration. Our explainer sets out how to check your name.
The documents
- ECI revises Maharashtra electoral roll schedule, final list on Nov 16News On AIR (Prasar Bharati), 26 September 2026
- FAQ: Special Intensive Revision 2026Chief Electoral Officer, Delhi, 30 June 2026