2.89 crore voters deleted in Uttar Pradesh draft electoral rolls after SIR

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday (January 6, 2026) published the draft electoral rolls for Uttar Pradesh after conducting the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) with 2.89 crore names deleted from the earlier voter list of the State.

The number of names deleted in U.P. is the highest for any State or Union Territory in absolute numbers, where SIR has been conducted so far in the country.

Only the Andaman and Nicobar, a Union Territory, has more deletions in percentage terms than U.P.

Uttar Pradesh is the last State to publish the draft list in the second phase of SIR. Among other States and U.T.s were the SIR has been carried out in the second phase. The deletion for Tamil Nadu was 15.19%, Gujarat 14.5%, West Bengal 7.59%, Madhya Pradesh 7.45%, Rajasthan 7.65%, Chhattisgarh 12.88%, Kerala 8.65%, Puducherry 10.12%, Goa 8.44% and Lakshadweep 2.47%.

Out of the 15.44 crore voters in the earlier 2025 list, 12.55 crore names were retained in the draft list, U.P. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Navdeep Rinwa told the media in Lucknow.

The remaining 18.70%, or about 2.89 crore voters, could not be included in the draft list due to deaths, permanent migration or multiple registrations.

While 46.23 lakh voters (2.99%) were found to be deceased, 2.17 crore voters (14.06%) had either permanently migrated or were not available during the verification process. Another 25.47 lakh voters (1.65%) were found to be registered at more than one place.

Most deletions in urban belt

Urban centres saw the maximum percentage of names being deleted, led by State capital Lucknow at 30% and closely followed by Ghaziabad, an industrial district adjoining national capital Delhi, at 28%. Gautam Buddha Nagar, another district adjoining Delhi, saw a 23.7% deletion, Prayagraj 24% and Kanpur 25%.

The SIR process in the State has, till now, taken a total of 62 days and has seen three extensions. The exercise was originally scheduled to end on December 11. The first extension was given for 15 days till December 26, then till December 31 and finally January 6.

With the publication of the draft list, the month-long claims and objections period begins. All those who have submitted enumeration forms but have not been mapped to the 2003 list would be called for a hearing with any of the 12 documents mandated by the ECI as proof of citizenship and residence.

Reduction in voters per booth

Mr. Rinwa said the ECI has capped voters per polling station for future elections at 1,200 instead of the earlier norm of 1,500. To meet this requirement, around 15,030 new polling stations were created across the State.

He said that the exercise involved 1,72,486 booths, with booth-level officers working alongside volunteers to reach voters. He also acknowledged the support of political parties, saying 5,76,611 booth-level agents appointed by recognised parties assisted in the process.

Meanwhile, Opposition parties alleged names were wrongly cut as voters shifted residence from one place to another in the State, adding the burden of proof onto individuals, amid strict deadlines.

The Congress said it will launch a mass movement against deletions carried out under SIR in the State. “ The name of Gurdeep Singh Sappal, a permanent invitee of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) has been deleted from the draft voter list. This list is completely biased. We are getting the information that selectively names of people from marginalised sections like Other Backward Classes (OBCs) have been removed. In the coming days, the Congress unit in Uttar Pradesh will launch a mass movement against the wrong deletions,” said Anil Yadav, a senior U.P. Congress leader.