UP SIRs: SC Orders EC Probe as Barabanki MP Flags Rural Voter Anomaly

While the ECI's SIR for UP assembly rolls counted 12.56 crore voters statewide, the State Election Commission’s panchayat SIR recorded rural voters alone of 12.69 crore.

The Wire Staff

While the ECI's SIR for UP assembly rolls counted 12.56 crore voters statewide, the State Election Commission’s panchayat SIR recorded rural voters alone of 12.69 crore.

up sirs sc orders ec probe as barabanki mp flags rural voter anomaly

People search for their names in the draft voter list after the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh, in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Thursday (January 15) directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to investigate a significant discrepancy in Uttar Pradesh's voter rolls highlighted by Barabanki MP Tanuj Punia. According to The Hindu, Punia had submitted a one-page note claiming that rural voters in the state exceed the total voter count for the entire state following two parallel Special Intensive Revisions (SIRs).

One SIR exercise was conducted by the ECI for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly electoral rolls, resulting in an enumeration of a total of 12.56 crore voters statewide (a reduction of about 2.89 crore voters). Simultaneously, the State Election Commission carried out an SIR for panchayat (rural) voter rolls, showing 12.69 crore rural voters alone (an increase of about 40 lakh voters). These figures, Punia pointed out, were incompatible, as rural voters cannot outnumber the state's total voters.

Senior advocate Salman Khurshid, appearing along with advocate Shariq Ahmed before a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, argued that this anomaly undermines the credibility of the SIR process and directly affects the right to vote and the integrity of free and fair elections. The Hindu reported that Khurshid urged the ECI to clarify which SIR is accurate and on what basis, as both cannot be correct.

In a related but separate hearing the same day, the Supreme Court addressed concerns in Kerala regarding the ongoing SIR. Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the Communist Party of India (Marxist) – which leads the LDF government in the state, highlighted that nearly 24 lakh people were excluded from the draft electoral roll. The list of deleted names was not publicly accessible, making it difficult for affected individuals to check their status and file objections.

According to The Hindu’s report, the division bench has directed the ECI to publish the list of excluded voters (if not already done) at panchayat and other local public offices, as well as upload it on its website.

This article went live on January seventeenth, two thousand twenty six, at nineteen minutes past seven in the evening.

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