Special Intensive Revision phase 2 kicks off tomorrow in 12 states, including Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu) : The Election Commission on Monday announced the second phase of the Special Summary Revision (SIR) across the country. This phase will cover 12 states.

Under the second phase, SIR is proposed in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Puducherry, Madhya Pradesh, Lakshadweep, Kerala, Gujarat, Goa, Chhattisgarh, besides Andaman and Nicobar. The announcement of SIR in these 12 states was made by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India, Gyanesh Kumar, in a press conference on Monday. He also clarified that the voter list of these states will be frozen on Monday night. He stressed the need for SIR and said that the last time SIR was conducted between 2000 and 2004, hence, after almost two decades, special intensive revision is necessary to remove the inaccuracies in the voter list.

He said, "Revision of the electoral roll is necessary before every election. In the past few years, several political parties have raised objections to the voter list not being completely accurate. The last time a SIR was conducted was between 2000 and 2004. After such a long period, SIR becomes even more important. The Election Commission has decided to conduct SIR in a phased manner across the country, starting with Bihar."

During the press conference, the CEC praised the SIR conducted in Bihar. He clarified that zero objections were filed by political parties during the process, which demonstrates that Bihar's voter list is the most accurate voter list to date. Gyanesh Kumar said, "Phase One of the SIR has concluded, and the greatest strength of this process is the enthusiastic participation of all 75 million voters in Bihar. There were zero appeals during this process, which means the Bihar voter list will be considered highly accurate. Now, preparations are underway for Phase 2."