Current Gujarat SIR records voter deletions on a scale unseen in 2002, reveals RTI reply

By A Representative 

The scale of voter deletions during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Gujarat marks a sharp departure from the pattern observed during the previous full-scale SIR conducted in 2001–02, official records indicate.

According to data obtained by senior activist Alpesh Bhavsar under the Right to Information (RTI) Act and detailed in official records from the 2002 SIR, Gujarat had 3,16,82,489 voters in the draft electoral roll published in August 2001. During the seven-month-long revision process, 60,494 names were deleted through objections and house-to-house verification, while 1,19,366 names were added through new registrations and field verification. The final electoral roll published in April 2002 stood at 3,17,41,361 voters, reflecting a net increase of 58,872 voters, or 0.19 percent growth over the draft list.

In contrast, the current SIR exercise has resulted in a large net reduction in the voter base. Official figures released after publication of the draft rolls in December 2025 show that Gujarat’s electorate declined from about 5.08 crore voters to approximately 4.34 crore, indicating that around 73.73 lakh names have been removed during the present revision process. This represents a contraction of roughly 14–15 percent of the total electorate, far exceeding any deletions recorded in earlier SIR exercises.

The comparison highlights a significant difference not only in scale but also in outcome. In 2002, deletions were substantially outweighed by additions, with nearly twice as many voters added as removed, resulting in overall expansion of the voter list. The 2002 revision also explicitly provided for re-inclusion of voters who possessed EPIC cards but were found missing from the rolls, as well as migrants, temporary residents, and new settlements identified during door-to-door verification.

Official documentation from 2002 shows that major urban districts such as Ahmedabad, Surat and Bharuch recorded the highest net additions, while deletions remained geographically limited and numerically modest. The entire process was spread over several months, allowing for claims, objections and corrections before finalisation.

By contrast, the current SIR has classified large numbers of voters under categories such as “shifted,” “not traceable,” “duplicate” and “deceased,” leading to mass provisional deletions that are now under objection and verification. Political parties and civil society groups have raised concerns over the scale and speed of the process, arguing that the magnitude of deletions is unprecedented in Gujarat’s electoral history.

The final impact of the present SIR will only be known after completion of the claims and objections process and publication of the final electoral roll. However, a comparison with the 2002 SIR shows that while the earlier exercise resulted in marginal growth and wider inclusion, the current revision has produced one of the largest net reductions in registered voters ever recorded in the state.

A major reason why the huge deletions in SIR updates has come about because, to quote Pankti Jog of Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel, the NGO working for popularising RTI:

“Many people have neither a passport nor a Class 10 certificate nor a birth certificate. Yet they are voters, they own homes in Ahmedabad, they live here. But now they do not have even a single document from the list of 11. Their continuation as voters depends entirely on whether the BLO accepts a living certificate or a letter from the panchayat or the housing society. Otherwise, it rests on oral instructions and the discretion of the ERO—on what they personally think is acceptable. As per the rules, if none of the 11 documents are available, their names are liable to be deleted from the electoral rolls.”