Maharashtra Congress seeks 2-month SIR deadline extension, cites server glitches
Synopsis
With barely 3.9 lakh of 1.54 crore flagged voters enrolled under Maharashtra’s SIR drive, the state Congress has demanded a two-month deadline extension — pointing to server crashes, untrained BLOs tied up with exams, 25,000 duplicate entries in a single constituency, and error-ridden Form 6 copies still in circulation. The Election Commission’s response will determine whether Maharashtra’s next electoral roll is genuinely inclusive or rushed.
Key Takeaways
MPCC President Harshwardhan Sapkal wrote to CEO S.
Chockalingam on 29 September 2026 seeking a two-month extension to the SIR drive deadline.
The current deadline for claims and objections to the draft electoral roll is 12 October ; an earlier 12-day extension was deemed insufficient.
Only 3,90,000 citizens have submitted Form 6 out of 1.54 crore voters flagged on the ASDDO list, and 40 lakh eligible youth await registration.
Over 25,000 duplicate voter entries in a single Lok Sabha constituency were reportedly submitted to the Nagpur District Collector .
Server downtime, Aadhaar-mobile non-linking, Marathi-English name discrepancies, and BLOs occupied with mid-term exams and Navratri duties are cited as key bottlenecks.
Congress has also demanded daily constituency-wise publication of Form 6, 7, and 8 data, modelled on Delhi’s reporting practices.
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) President Harshwardhan Sapkal on Tuesday, 29 September 2026, formally wrote to state Chief Electoral Officer S. Chockalingam, demanding a two-month extension beyond the current 12 October deadline for submitting claims and objections to the draft electoral roll under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive. The Congress leadership warned that millions of eligible voters across Maharashtra risk disenfranchisement due to what it described as severe administrative and technical bottlenecks.
Background: How the SIR Drive Stands Today
The Election Commission had earlier granted an extension of 12 days following an MPCC delegation's meeting with election authorities on 22 September. Sapkal, however, called that extension “grossly inadequate” given the sheer volume of pending revisions. According to figures cited from the state’s electoral database, out of 1.54 crore voters flagged on the Absentee, Shifted, and Dead/Duplicate Voters (ASDDO) list — alongside 40 lakh youth eligible for fresh registration — only 3,90,000 citizens have managed to submit Form 6 for voter enrolment so far.
Technical and Administrative Bottlenecks
“Frequent server downtime, combined with non-linking of Aadhaar and mobile numbers, has severely paralysed online submissions. Discrepancies between Marathi and English transliterations of voter names are creating further roadblocks,” Sapkal stated in his letter. He further pointed out that despite errors in the newly formatted Form 6 being flagged to the Election Commission, revised forms have not been printed, leaving citizens without access to error-free application copies.
Booth Level Officers (BLOs) — a significant portion of whom are schoolteachers — are reportedly stretched thin, simultaneously conducting mid-term school examinations and managing festive duties during Navratri. Serving house-to-house notices while collecting verification documents has, according to the MPCC chief, pushed field staff beyond operational capacity.
Duplicate Voter Entries: A Key Concern
Sapkal also flagged critical flaws in the Election Commission’s duplication-detection software, revealing that a list of over 25,000 duplicate voter entries in a single Lok Sabha constituency was recently submitted directly to the Nagpur District Collector. Critics argue this points to systemic data integrity failures that a compressed timeline cannot adequately resolve.
What Congress Has Demanded
The MPCC has urged the Election Commission to immediately extend the deadline for claims and objections by two months beyond 12 October; publish daily constituency-wise data detailing the exact number of Form 6, 7, and 8 applications received — following the transparent reporting model reportedly used in Delhi; and conduct thorough re-verification across all constituencies to purge bogus and duplicate entries from the draft rolls. “To ensure that voter registration is conducted thoroughly and no eligible citizen is left out, a two-month extension is mandatory,” Sapkal urged, calling on the CEO to act swiftly in the interest of fair elections.
What Happens Next
The Election Commission has not yet publicly responded to the latest demand. With the 12 October deadline approaching and field infrastructure reportedly strained, the outcome of this request is likely to have significant bearing on the completeness of Maharashtra’s final electoral roll ahead of future elections in the state.
Point of View
The SIR drive’s current pace is not credibly on track — and the Election Commission’s 12-day concession does little to change that arithmetic. The duplicate-entry problem in Nagpur is particularly telling: if duplication software is flagging 25,000 anomalies in a single constituency, the statewide scale of the problem could be substantial. What is missing from this debate is independent verification of these figures — the Election Commission has yet to publicly contest or confirm them, leaving citizens to navigate competing narratives with no real-time data dashboard. Maharashtra’s electoral credibility depends on getting this right, not getting it done fast.
NationPress
29 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the SIR drive in Maharashtra?
The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive is an Election Commission exercise to update Maharashtra’s draft electoral roll by identifying and removing absentee, shifted, dead, and duplicate voters, while simultaneously enrolling new eligible citizens. The current drive has a claims-and-objections deadline of 12 October 2026.
Why is Maharashtra Congress seeking a two-month extension?
The MPCC argues that the current deadline is grossly inadequate given severe technical and administrative bottlenecks, including frequent server downtime, errors in Form 6, BLOs occupied with school exams and Navratri duties, and over 25,000 duplicate entries flagged in a single constituency. Only 3,90,000 of 1.54 crore flagged voters have submitted registrations so far.
How many voters are at risk of being left off the Maharashtra electoral roll?
According to figures cited by MPCC President Harshwardhan Sapkal, 1.54 crore voters are on the ASDDO list and 40 lakh youth are eligible for fresh registration — against only 3,90,000 Form 6 submissions completed to date. Without a deadline extension, a large portion of these citizens risk missing the final electoral roll.
What specific demands has the MPCC made to the Election Commission?
The MPCC has demanded a two-month extension beyond 12 October, daily publication of constituency-wise Form 6, 7, and 8 application data modelled on Delhi’s transparency practices, and thorough re-verification across all constituencies to eliminate duplicate and bogus entries.
What is the duplicate voter entry problem flagged by Sapkal?
Sapkal revealed that a list of over 25,000 duplicate voter entries from a single Lok Sabha constituency was submitted to the Nagpur District Collector, pointing to what he described as critical flaws in the Election Commission’s duplication-detection software. The Election Commission has not publicly responded to this claim.
