2.89 Crore Voters Removed From UP SIR Draft List, Maximum From Lucknow
2.89 Crore Voters Removed From UP SIR Draft List, Maximum From Lucknow
M.U.H
06/01/202631
Releasing the draft revised list for Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the Election Commission said 2.89 crore voters have been removed from the electoral rolls in the state, including 46 lakh voters who are dead. The development comes after the enumeration process was extended three times amid concerns over large-scale deletions in the country's most populous state.
Of the 2.89 crore people whose names have been removed, 2.17 crore have moved, 46.23 lakh are dead, and 25.47 lakh are registered in more than one place. The final list will be published on March 6.
As per official figures, Uttar Pradesh had around 15.44 crore registered voters at the time the SIR was announced on October 27, 2025. Individual enumeration forms were printed for every voter, with Booth Level Officers (BLOs) tasked with door-to-door verification and collection of signed forms.
Out of the total electorate, 12,55,56,025 enumeration forms were returned, accounting for 81.03 per cent of voters. However, forms from about 18.7 per cent of voters were not received, leading to the exclusion of 2.89 crore names from the draft rolls.
According to the data shared by the Election Commission, Uttar Pradesh's capital, Lucknow, has lost the maximum number of voters. When the SIR was announced, Lucknow had 39.9 lakh electors, which has now come down to 27.9 lakh - a reduction of 30 per cent.
Similarly, in Lalitpur, 9.5 lakh electors were registered as of September 27, 2025, which has reduced to 8.6 lakh - down by 10%.
The Election Commission had initially allocated one week for the enumeration process and set December 11 as the deadline for it. However, with reports of nearly 2.97 crore names facing deletion and ongoing mapping work, Uttar Pradesh authorities sought additional time. The Commission subsequently granted a 15-day extension, pushing the date to December 26.
Further delays occurred due to administrative challenges, including an uneven workload for BLOs, some of whom were handling more than 1,200 voters per area. Additionally, 1,530 new polling stations were approved on December 23, requiring server-side data shifting. Following another extension, the draft voter list was published on Tuesday.
The scale of deletions has triggered sharp political reactions. Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav had earlier alleged that the SIR process has disproportionately affected certain voter groups.
