SIR Deadline for Voter List Cleanup Pushed to February 14

The Election Commission has extended the deadline for the voter list cleanup Special Intensive Revision (SIR) by a week till February 14.

In its latest order, the EC also revised key dates — the draft voter list will now be published on December 16 instead of December 9, and the enumeration period will conclude on December 11 rather than December 4.

Opposition leaders, including those from the Trinamool Congress, recently met Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, seeking a rescheduling of the SIR and flagging issues of poor implementation.

Reports indicate heavy pressure on booth-level officers (BLOs), with suicides reported from West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh.

In West Bengal, the first stage of the SIR is nearly complete, with 18.70 lakh deceased voters identified as of November 29.

Overall, the EC expects nearly 35 lakh deletions nationwide — including dead, duplicate, untraceable, and relocated voters, according to IANS.