Odisha SIR: Malkangiri records 27,653 deletions, the highest in the state

Malkangiri, the southernmost assembly in Odisha and with a large number of Bangladeshi settlers, has seen the highest delisting of voters – 27,653 – from the electoral roll after the first phase of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state. File | Photo credit: The Hindu

The deletion represented 10.96% of the total number of voters. Before SIR, Malkangiri had 2,52,147 voters. The constituency has voters who migrated from Bangladesh in the early 1950s and mid-1980s. Then the Odisha government settled them by establishing special villages.

The names of more than 20 million voters were deleted from the draft SIR report released on July 5. Before SIR, Odisha’s total electorate was 3,33,99,591, which reduced to 3,13,87,034. Of the deleted voters, 8.32 million or 2.49% died, while 10.07 million voters (3.02%) were either absent or moved.

District-wise, Ganjam, which sends the highest number of migrant workers to various parts of the country and beyond, has the highest strikeout of 2,07,626 voters, followed by Cuttack district with 1,55,164.

There were nine such assembly constituencies, each of which saw more than 20,000 deletions. More than half of these assembly segments are known as migration-prone pockets. Out of the total 147 assembly constituencies, 40 segments have been floated for more than 15,000 each.

The Biju Janata Dal on Sunday (June 5, 2026) questioned the draft report of the first phase of the SIR. It stated that 27 million voters were struck off the electoral roll against the alleged exclusion of 20 million voters. Congress has also expressed concern over the large number of deletions.

Sushanta Kumar Mishra, Additional Chief Electoral Officer, said that an abnormality was noticed in the first phase of SIR as the names of voters who had died had to be deleted while 10.07 lakh voters were either missing or shifted. “All those whose names did not find a place in the draft report will be given an adequate opportunity to appeal,” he said.

Published – 07 Jul 2026 04:41 IST