Live updates: Election Commission announces Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in 12 states under Phase 2

"Aadhaar card not proof of date of birth or domicile. Aadhaar not proof of citizenship, but can be furnished as identity proof in SIR exercise," said CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

"Revision of electoral rolls in Assam to be announced separately. Draft rolls to be published on December 9; final electoral rolls on February 7. Phase-II of SIR in 12 states/UTs to cover 51 crore voters; enumeration process to begin on November 4," he added.

"Enumeration forms will be pre-filled with already available details including, details of previous SIR. All Chief Electoral Officers and District Electoral Officers have been directed to meet political parties and brief them on the SIR process by day after tomorrow," said Gyanesh Kumar.

“BLOs will visit every household three times. To address the issue of migrated voters, people can now submit their enumeration forms online," said Kumar.

"In the states where SIR will be conducted, electoral rolls will be frozen at midnight, today. Later, voters will be given unique enumeration forms with all details. First phase of SIR completed in Bihar with zero appeals," says CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

“Today we are here regarding the the rollout of the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision. I extend my greetings to the voters of Bihar and bow before the 7.5 crore voters who took part in a successful SIR. The Commission also met election officials from all 36 states and discussed the process in detail. Political parties have raised the issue of quality of electoral rolls on several occasions," said CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

Ahead of the Election Commission of India's press conference on Special Intensive Revision (SIR), Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Monday said that the conduct of SIR is important to maintain political sanctity as it will bring transparency in the voter list.

"We have been demanding countrywide SIR because it will bring transparency. For sanctity in politics, SIR is very important," Manjhi said.

Janata Dal (United) leader Neeraj Kumar on Monday explained the need to update the electoral rolls, citing duplicate and deceased names on the voter list.

Kumar stated that the Congress party has been opposing the procedure; however, it was not accepted by the judiciary. He noted that Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body and has the authority to conduct Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said the Election Commission should not rush to carry out a nationwide special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, but rather wait for the Bihar assembly election to get over.

According to officials, the Election Commission is likely to announce a pan-India SIR of the voters' list on Monday evening.

"The Vice President arrived in Seychelles yesterday afternoon. He began his program by addressing a gathering of the Indian origin community here in Seychelles and subsequently attended the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected president. He also had a brief meeting with the Mauritian PM Navin Chandra Ramgoolam. This morning Vice President called on the newly sworn-in President, Dr Patrick Herminie and conveyed to him greetings and good wishes from the people and government of India. He underlined to him India's intent and desire to further the long-standing ties of kinship and cooperation between India and Seychelles. He especially expressed his desire to strengthen relations in all of the areas of Seychelles' priorities insofar as its development is concerned, particularly in the areas of health, education, energy, transport and maritime security. The Vice President also handed over to President Dr Herminie an invitation from Prime Minister Modi to pay a visit to India at mutual convenience. The Vice President also had a meeting with the Vice President-elect of Seychelles this morning..."

In a bid to strengthen his appeal in Muslim-majority areas ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls, the Mahagathbandhan’s chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav said the Waqf (Amendment) Act would be “thrown into the dustbin” if the alliance comes to power in the elections scheduled for November 6 and 11. While addressing a rally in the Muslim-dominated Katihar district on October 26, Yadav accused Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of allowing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to enter Bihar’s political landscape, saying his father, RJD chief Lalu Prasad, had never bowed to communal forces.

The people of Konar are eagerly waiting for November 11, when Bihar will vote in the second and final phase of the Assembly election. The village, which falls under the Kargahar constituency, is the ancestral home of Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kishor.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Kanhaiya Kumar and Independent MP Pappu Yadav are among the party’s 40 star campaigners for the first phase of the Bihar assembly polls. AICC in-charge of Bihar Krishna Allavaru, Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Ram, Congress general secretaries K C Venugopal, Bhupesh Baghel, Sachin Pilot, Randeep Surjewala and Syed Naseer Hussain, as well as senior leaders Ashok Gehlot, Tariq Anwar, Gaurav Gogoi, Mohammad Jawed and Akhilesh Prasad Singh, are also on the list.

BJP National Spokesperson Dr Guru Prakash Paswan says, "Whether it is Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Millia University, or Karnataka, these are the places where appeasement politics are cited by systematically stripping SC, ST, and OBC reservations. You do politics for Dalits, backward classes, extremely backward classes, and tribals. I remember Manmohan Singh's statement when he said that the country's Muslims have the first right to the country's resources. Tejashwi Yadav also has the same mentality. He is not concerned about Dalits, backward classes, or extremely backward classes..."

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Mahagatbandhan’s Chief Ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his visit to poll-bound Bihar, alleging that PM Modi is “coming to cheat Bihar.”

The DMK president, in a letter to party cadre, responded to the Election Commission of India’s announcement that the SIR of electoral rolls will begin in Tamil Nadu within a week. Stalin said the DMK had already urged the ECI to reconsider the SIR and that the DMK has the strength to face any of their ‘anti-democratic’ activities. The DMK president, without clarifying whether he continues to remain firm on his demand not to carry out the exercise in Tamil Nadu, said, “The DMK cadre must vigilantly monitor the SIR process that seeks to rob people of their voting rights.”

Slamming the poll body as a handmaiden of the BJP, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin on Sunday alleged that the Special Intensive Rolls revision exercise in the poll-bound state was a replication of the Bihar model designed to facilitate the AIADMK-BJP in the 2026 assembly poll.

The SIR aims to ensure that electoral rolls across India are accurate, up-to-date and inclusive. By closely coordinating with the CEOs of various States and Union Territories, the ECI seeks to minimise errors and discrepancies ahead of the upcoming elections. With elections scheduled in key States in 2026, this nationwide SIR process is expected to play a crucial role in strengthening the democratic process and improving voter accessibility, sources in the Commission said.

The nationwide SIR was earlier announced by the ECI on 24 June 2025, alongside the SIR for Bihar. The process has faced legal challenges in the Supreme Court. While the court did not question the ECI’s authority to conduct the SIR, it instructed that Aadhaar be included as the twelfth document for proof of identity.

Targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party-All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam alliance in the state, Stalin charged the Opposition is trying to win elections by "snatching away the voting rights" of people. "The BJP and its ally AIADMK are estimating that they can win (the 2026 Assembly polls) by removing the names of working class people, SCs, minorities and women through SIR," the chief minister charged.

States like Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry are scheduled to go to polls next year. With at least three states being governed by Opposition parties, the Election Commission is likely to face stiff opposition from them.