The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday released the revised Special Intensive Review (SIR) schedule for five states and one Union Territory. According to news agency PTI, it extended the deadline for Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands on the request of the chief executives.
On Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa mentioned that the state had asked the ECI for two more weeks to complete the SIR electoral rolls, the report noted. In a press release, Rinwa explained that the additional time was requested so that district election officials could re-verify the records of deceased voters, people who could not relocate and those who could not relocate.
The SIR exercise has been taking place on the UP territory since November 4.
SIR in West Bengal
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday described Union Home Minister Amit Shah as “dangerous” and warned that she would stage a dharna if “the name of even a single eligible voter was struck out” during the ongoing SIR voter rolls.
Speaking at a rally in Krishnanagar in Nadia district, she said: “The country’s home minister is dangerous. You can see it in his eyes – it’s scary. You see ‘Duryodhan’ in one eye and ‘Dushasan’ in the other.”
Claiming that SIR was being used as a political tool ahead of the 2026 assembly elections, Banerjee added, “If the name of even a single eligible voter is struck, I will sit on a dharna. There will be no detention camps in West Bengal. They are so vote-hungry that they are conducting SIR just two months before elections.”
She also mentioned that she had not yet filled out her own accounting form.
“Do I have to prove my citizenship to the rioters now?” she said in a pointed reference to the BJP.
Accusing the central government of targeting Bengalis, she said: “We have a (Union) home minister who can do anything to label all Bengalis as Bangladeshis and send them to detention camps. But we will not allow anyone to be driven out of West Bengal. We know very well how to bring someone back if they are pushed out.”
Banerjee alleged that the Election Commission had sent BJP-linked officials to influence the process, saying, “Some BJP-backed people are being sent from Delhi to oversee things in West Bengal. They are overseeing the work of district magistrates during SIR hearings.”
