New Delhi: The Election Commission of India on Thursday announced Phase III of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across 16 states and three Union Territories, while excluding Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh from the current schedule.
The poll body said the electoral roll revision exercise in the three regions will be conducted separately at a later stage after completion of Phase II of the national Census and in view of weather-related challenges in high-altitude and snow-bound areas.
According to the ECI, the rollout in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh has been deferred due to operational constraints, difficult terrain and limited feasibility of field deployment during the current period.
Under Phase III, more than 3.94 lakh Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will conduct door-to-door verification of nearly 36.73 crore electors across the country.
The Commission said the schedule has been aligned with the ongoing Census house-listing exercise to ensure smooth deployment of administrative and field-level staff for both operations.
The exercise will also cover Delhi, where the final electoral rolls are scheduled to be published on October 7.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar appealed to voters to actively participate in the revision process and submit their Enumeration Forms.
“The objective of the SIR is to ensure that only eligible voters are included in the electoral rolls while preventing the inclusion of ineligible names,” he said.
The first phase of the SIR exercise was conducted between June and September 2025 in select states, with Bihar serving as the primary example. Following verification, around 47 lakh names — nearly 5 to 6 per cent of the electorate — were removed from the electoral rolls in Bihar.
The second phase began on October 27, 2025 and covered nine states and three Union Territories, including Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest deletions with 2.04 crore names removed, followed by West Bengal with 83.86 lakh deletions.
The ECI said separate schedules for Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh will be announced once weather conditions improve and field-level operations become feasible in these regions.
