Poll Body To Extend SIR Deadline For UP, Bengal And Other States: Sources

The Election Commission (EC) is likely to extend the Summary Revision (SIR) deadline for Uttar Pradesh and several other states, top EC sources told NDTV. A final decision will be taken on Thursday, when the Commission's senior officials meet to review the progress of the enumeration form digitisation and submission.

According to sources, West Bengal is also among the states where the deadline may be extended. Earlier, the Commission had already extended the last date for Kerala to December 18, revising it from the original deadline of December 11.

The possible extension comes amid strong criticism from multiple Opposition parties, who accused the EC of enforcing "impractical" deadlines that were overburdening Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and inconveniencing voters.

The Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC), CPI(M) and Samajwadi Party (SP) in all party meeting already said the Commission had ignored ground realities and pushed ahead with a rushed revision schedule. Congress leader Pramod Tiwari remarked that the EC had "finally realised" the revision could not be completed within the earlier timeline. He urged the poll body to adopt the more comprehensive schedule used during the 2003 revision and warned that avoiding discussions on SIR in Parliament showed the government was "unwilling to let Parliament function."

The TMC said the likely extension validated its position that the SIR was "ill-conceived" and launched without adequate preparation. Senior TMC leader Joyprakash Majumdar alleged that at least 40 people, including BLOs, had died due to stress linked to the revision exercise in West Bengal, calling the process "hasty" and politically motivated.

In Uttar Pradesh, SP president Akhilesh Yadav said the SIR had become a "major trouble" for both voters and BLOs, adding that verifying nearly 16 crore voters in one month was "impossible."

Meanwhile, updated EC data shows that a day before the SIR deadline, 50.8 crore Enumeration Forms have already been digitised. Around 23.22 lakh forms are still pending. A total of 50.96 crore forms were distributed since SIR Phase II began on November 4.

In Kerala, 2.74 crore forms have been digitised-about 98.5 per cent -prompting the EC to extend the submission deadline to December 18.

Across the 12 States and Union Territories participating in SIR Phase II, the number of electors on October 27 stood at 50.99 crore.
Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh and Puducherry have achieved 100 per cent digitisation, while all other States have surpassed 99 per cent, except Kerala.

A formal announcement on extending deadlines for more states is expected after tomorrow's meeting.