70 lakh seek inclusion claims in UP SIR exercise

Over 70.69 lakh Form 6 claims for inclusion in the electoral rolls and 2.68 lakh objections via Form 7, seeking deletion of names, were received in Uttar Pradesh between January 6 and March 6 as part of the SIR exercise in 2026, Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said on Saturday.

Addressing a press conference at the Lok Bhawan here, Rinwa said that during the two-month claims and objections period, 70,69,810 Form 6 applications were received, with 35,72,603 submitted by women and 34,96,911 by men, indicating that the number of applications by women exceeded those by men. As many as 296 applications were submitted by third gender voters. He said that since October 27, 2025, when the revision exercise was announced, the state has received 86,69,073 Form 6 applications, including 43,06,364 from men, 43,62,323 from women and 386 from third gender voters.

Regarding objections for deletion of names from the rolls, Rinwa said 2,68,682 Form 7 applications were submitted between January 6 and March 6. Of these, 1,58,027 sought deletion of male voters, while 1,10,645 of female voters and 10 of third gender voters.

From October 27 to March 6, a total of 3,18,140 Form 7 applications were received, including 1,86,362 for male voters, 1,31,766 for female voters and 12 for third gender voters, he said. Rinwa said the draft electoral roll published on January 6 contained 12.55 crore voters, including 6.88 crore men (54.8 per cent), 5.67 crore women (45 per cent) and 4,119 third gender voters (0.01 per cent).

He said notices were issued to 3.26 crore voters whose details required verification. This included 1.4 crore voters whose details were not mapped with the 2003 Special Intensive Revision (SIR), and 2.02 crore voters where discrepancies were found, such as a mismatch in names or implausible age gaps between family members.

The first notices were issued on January 14, and hearings began on January 21, he said, adding that 100 per cent notices have now been generated, while about 3.60 crore notices (93.8 per cent) have already been served. “So far, hearings have been completed for around 2.80 crore voters, which accounts for about 85.8 per cent of the cases,” Rinwa said. To facilitate the process, the Election Commission arranged hearings at 5,621 locations across the state and set up help desks to assist voters. Booth-level officers also visited households and carried out verification using a mobile application, he added. “Around 14 per cent of the hearings are still pending, but with the current pace of work, the process is expected to be completed within the stipulated deadline of March 27,” Rinwa said.

The poll panel’s state chief further said that a total of 22,55,473 Form 8 applications for corrections, change of address and replacement of EPIC cards were received between October 27 and March 6.  Of these, 1,56,313 were for change of address, 20,25,611 for correction of entries in the electoral roll, 71,536 for replacement of EPIC cards and 2,013 related to identification of persons with disabilities, he said.

The Form 8 applications received during the two-month claims and objections period stood at 16,33,578, including 1,12,877 for change of address, 14,88,115 for correction of entries, 31,602 for replacement of EPIC cards and 984 related to identification of persons with disabilities.

Rinwa said that under the guidelines of the SIR, no name can be deleted from the draft electoral roll published on January 6 without issuing a notice and without a reasoned order passed by the Electoral Registration Officer or Assistant Electoral Registration Officer as per the prescribed procedure.

He also said that after the launch of the revision exercise, the chief electoral officer’s office held five meetings with representatives of recognised political parties at the state level to brief them about the latest guidelines and the progress of the exercise.

During the enumeration phase from November 4 to December 26 and the claims and objections period, a total of 3,090 meetings were held with representatives of recognised political parties across the state to inform them about the procedures and seek their cooperation, he added.

According to Rinwa, 5,82,877 booth-level agents appointed by recognised political parties actively participated in the revision process. During the claims and objections period, these agents submitted 40,669 Form 6 applications and 1,805 Form 7 applications.

The chief electoral officer further said four special campaign days were organised across all polling stations in the state to facilitate inclusion of eligible citizens in the electoral rolls. Booth-level officers were present at polling stations with the required forms and draft electoral rolls to assist voters.

Rinwa added that 92,497 complaints were received on the Election Commission’s National Grievance Service Portal between October 27 and March 6, out of which 91,790 complaints, or 99.24 per cent, have been resolved.

He said voters can also directly contact their booth-level officers through the ‘Book a call with BLO’ facility available on the Election Commission’s portal and mobile application.

In addition, the Election Commission operated a state contact centre with the helpline number 1800-180-1950 and district contact centres with helpline number 1950 during the revision exercise to address queries and complaints from citizens.

Rinwa said the Public Grievance Redressal System Cell of the Election Commission also received 409 complaints during the revision period, all of which have been resolved.

He added that 92 complaints were received from recognised political parties during the revision exercise, including 78 from the Samajwadi Party, eight from the Bharatiya Janata Party, five from the Congress and one from the Aam Aadmi Party, and all of them have been disposed of.