Syllabus: Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act.
About Current SIR
- SIR now rolled into another batch of States and Union Territories after creating new electoral roll in Bihar.
- ECI-ordered SIR in nine States and three UTs as part of staggered pan-India exercise began November 4, 2025.
- Being held in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, UP, MP, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat and Andaman, Lakshadweep, Puducherry.
- Includes States going to polls next year but excludes Assam where citizenship issues on different legal track.
- Only ninth SIR in India’s 75-year electoral history and first after 21 years showing rare intensive exercise.
Scale and Magnitude
- 51 crore electors under intensive review – more than half the country’s total electorate spreading over 321 districts, 1,843 constituencies.
- Involves 5.33 lakh polling stations, equal number of Booth Level Officers (BLOs), over 7.64 lakh booth level agents.
State-Specific Challenges
- Tamil Nadu and Kerala: ruling dispensations taken dim view of SIR showing political resistance to process.
- West Bengal (7.7 crore electors): responses more combative; has constituencies bordering Bangladesh where infiltration, citizenship issues in focus.
- Uttar Pradesh (15.44 crore electors): social complexities make it not a cakewalk requiring careful implementation comprehensively.
- Burden of migrations faced in Bihar does not hold true in other States showing varied challenges.
Process Improvements
- Article 326 defining elector getting highlighted as equal truth as Article 324 in running elections ensuring rights focus.
- Clear ECI order: “No document to be collected from electors during Enumeration Phase” respite for apprehensive voters.
- Draft roll includes all whose signed enumeration forms (rationalised, partly pre-filled) are received ensuring inclusion.
- Only electors whose names could not be matched/linked will be notified and heard before registration official decides inclusion/exclusion.
- Three visits to house of each elector by BLO reassuring; Forms 6, 7, 8 remain in place ensuring familiarity.
Political Response
- Political parties changed tune: from ‘Stop SIR’ call to making best out of exercise despite maintaining ideological opposition.
- If parties have genuine fears: need to participate in implementation using decentralized structure of checks and balances comprehensively.
- Zero appeals in Bihar process and field-level collaboration seen by party functionaries make election managers more confident moving forward.
Way Forward
- Fundamentals validated: but hurdles in execution in scale where ECI needs to show skill and empathy comprehensively.
- ECI’s legacy of competence demands continuously working to uphold trust of voters ensuring credible electoral process.
- Won trial in Bihar: new pan-India SIR will be another test case for ECI’s capability and credibility.