The UP BJP is trying to boost the number of women in elections with SIR, leaving a wide gender gap

The Uttar Pradesh BJP has made it a priority to enroll women voters who were left out by the SIR in the state. Image is for representational purposes only. | Photo credit: ANI

Uttar Pradesh assembly elections are due in early 2027 and among the preparations of the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the registration of women voters who were missed by the Special Intensive Scrutiny (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state, a task that is a top priority, party officials said.

Also read | In the first year of the SIR electoral rolls, almost 6 million names were deleted

While the State Election Commission in its final draft post-SIR electoral rolls showed that some attempts were made to correct the deletions, in many districts women who married into districts other than their own still found that they were not added to either their native district or their in-laws’ district, a senior party official in Uttar Pradesh told The Hindudesh.

“The first task for us is to ensure that female voters, who were omitted from the voter lists despite the revisions, have the opportunity to fill out form 6 (the application form for new voters) and vote in the council elections. We found that even after two proposals (voter lists) there was a significant decrease in the number of female voters,” said the source.

According to a press release issued by the State Election Commission after the publication of the final draft electoral rolls, UP had a total of 13,39,84,792 voters, of which 7,30,71,061 (54.54%) were male and a much lower 6,09,09,525 (45.46%) female voters. The ratio of women to every 1,000 men is a low 834, the press release said.

While it is not possible for The Hindu to break down by district, a BJP office-bearer said the problem is particularly acute in districts bordering Bihar and Nepal due to the change of residence of married women.

Across the country, according to data provided by state election commissions, the number of women voters has fallen after the implementation of SIR, with the exception of Tamil Nadu, which is an outlier in this regard.

The shrinking base of loyal voters is worrying for the party. Over the past few election cycles, the BJP has secured widespread support from women voters across communities for law, order and income support schemes, including the Mukhyamantri Ladli Behna Yojana in Madhya Pradesh and the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana in Maharashtra.

According to the State Election Commission, the BJP had the highest number of 1,61,581 booth-level agents in the field during the Uttar Pradesh SIR. Some of these workers are now being deployed to ensure that women voters are not left out of the final draft due to confusion over their change of residence or other factors and are included in the electoral roll ahead of the UP Assembly elections.

Published – 01 Jul 2026 19:04 IST