SIR voter-roll row explained: what the fight is about

The Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls has become one of India's biggest political fights. Here is what it is about.
SIR is a door-to-door exercise to clean up voter lists. In Bihar, the final roll published on September 30 lists 7.42 crore voters, down from 7.89 crore before the exercise began on June 24.
About 65 lakh names were dropped from the draft roll. Another 21.53 lakh voters were added through Form 6, and 3.66 lakh names were deleted before the final list.
The flashpoint is Form 6, the form used to add names to rolls. The ECI added an extra declaration to the online form during SIR. On October 5, Chief Justice Surya Kant said, "Any modified Form 6 has not been approved by us."
The ECI says its June 2025 order was unanimous and was upheld by the Supreme Court in May 2026. It has rejected Rahul Gandhi's charge that the form was changed illegally.
Bihar votes on November 6 and 11, with counting on November 14. The Supreme Court has issued notices to the ECI and the Centre and will examine the records.
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