New Delhi: Amid nationwide protests over alleged irregularities in the conduct of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and calls for resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced Special Summary Revision (SSR) of voters’ list across 17 states and UTs.
In a notice issued on Thursday, ECI has directed the specified states and UTs to conduct SSR of electoral rolls under Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, with January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date.
The SSR will cover Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
Of these, elections are due in UP, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa around March-April 2027.
As for Odisha, the Commission stated that the schedule for SSR in states and UTs where SIR is ongoing or has recently been completed will be announced later.
The SSR exercise aims to add eligible voters, especially young and first-time electors, while removing duplicate and deceased voters.
The draft rolls will be published on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11. The final rolls are scheduled on January 4, 2027.
The ECI notification comes after the Supreme Court issued a notice to the ECI, CEC Kumar, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi on a petition filed by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and nine other INDIA bloc leaders challenging the SIR of electoral rolls.