Sunetra Pawar directs NCP cadre to prioritise SIR voter roll drive
Synopsis
With Maharashtra's electoral rolls set for a sweeping door-to-door audit covering nearly 10 crore voters, NCP president Sunetra Pawar has put her cadre on a war footing — and she is not alone. The BJP and Shiv Sena have done the same, signalling that all Mahayuti partners see the Special Intensive Revision not just as an administrative exercise, but as a political battleground.
Key Takeaways
Sunetra Pawar , NCP president and Deputy Chief Minister, directed party cadre to treat the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) as a top priority on 26 May 2025 .
Party workers have been asked to work on a 'war footing' between 30 June and 29 July during the door-to-door enumeration phase.
Maharashtra's SIR will cover approximately 9.86 crore electors across 288 Assembly constituencies from June to October 2025 .
1,13,558 Block Level Agents have been appointed statewide; 1,00,253 BLOs will conduct field verification.
BJP and Shiv Sena have also mobilised cadre for the SIR, with BJP citing 64 lakh ineligible voter deletions in West Bengal as a reference point.
Draft deletion lists will be shared with recognised parties, giving BLAs the legal right to raise objections before the final roll is published.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar on Tuesday, 26 May directed party ministers, legislators, and office-bearers to treat the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as a top priority, warning that genuine voters must not be left off the list. The directive came at a party meeting in Mumbai attended by senior NCP leaders ahead of the statewide door-to-door enumeration drive.
Key Directives from the Meeting
Pawar specifically asked Block Level Agents (BLAs) to cooperate fully with Block Level Officers (BLOs) across all 288 Assembly constituencies during the SIR exercise. A party functionary present at the meeting said: 'The party president, Sunetra Pawar, has asked the ministers, legislators, and office-bearers to take SIR seriously so that genuine voters are not excluded. She also asked them to work on a war footing between June 30 and July 29, especially during the door-to-door enumeration.'
Senior party ministers Chhagan Bhujbal and Hasan Mushrif, along with former state Assembly Speaker Dilip Walse Patil, briefed the gathering on steps already taken in their respective constituencies to implement the SIR.
Broader Political Mobilisation Across Mahayuti
The NCP meeting is part of a wider mobilisation by ruling Mahayuti alliance partners. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) recently convened a meeting chaired by state party president Ravindra Chavan, attended by more than 700 members including MPs and MLAs, who were briefed on SIR protocols and a template of dos and don'ts. BJP leaders urged workers to ensure no eligible voter was skipped and no ineligible voter was added — drawing lessons from West Bengal, where reportedly 64 lakh ineligible voter names were deleted from electoral rolls.
The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena similarly directed workers to set aside other tasks and focus entirely on SIR. Workers were told: 'Workers have also been instructed to file a complaint if any BLO acts unfairly or incorrectly. Our voters are the key to our success; if they are removed, what will happen? Therefore, take absolute care to ensure our voters are not excluded.'
Scale of the SIR Exercise in Maharashtra
State Chief Electoral Officer S. Chockalingam confirmed that the SIR campaign, running from June to October, will involve a physical door-to-door verification of approximately 9.86 crore electors across Maharashtra. The exercise will be carried out through 1,00,253 BLOs, with political parties deploying BLAs to assist them. As of now, 1,13,558 BLAs have been appointed statewide, with the Election Commission of India (ECI) urging parties to maximise appointments before the June launch.
Transparency Safeguards and Opposition Concerns
Responding to opposition demands for transparency, Chockalingam said the draft list of proposed deletions would be shared with recognised political parties at the Assembly constituency level. BLAs have the legal right to scrutinise these lists, raise objections, and challenge any wrongful deletion before the final roll is published. Local poll bodies are also expected to host joint meetings with recognised parties to coordinate the field exercise seamlessly.
With the SIR set to cover nearly 10 crore voters across 288 constituencies, the quality of BLA deployment and inter-party cooperation will likely determine whether the exercise strengthens or skews Maharashtra's electoral database ahead of future elections.
Point of View
BJP, and Shiv Sena around the SIR reveals something the administrative framing obscures: every ruling party is treating the voter-roll revision as an extension of booth management, not a neutral cleansing exercise. The BJP's invocation of West Bengal — where 64 lakh deletions were flagged — sets a charged precedent, implying that large-scale deletions are both possible and desirable. The risk is that competitive BLA deployment by rival parties turns a transparency mechanism into a factional turf war at the booth level, with genuine voters caught in the crossfire. The ECI's insistence on draft-list sharing and objection rights is a safeguard, but its effectiveness depends entirely on whether smaller parties and independent voters have the organisational muscle to use it.
NationPress
21 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Maharashtra?
The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is a door-to-door physical verification of approximately 9.86 crore electors across Maharashtra, running from June to October 2025. It is aimed at purifying the electoral database by removing ineligible names and ensuring all eligible voters are included, carried out through 1,00,253 Booth Level Officers.
What has Sunetra Pawar asked NCP workers to do during the SIR?
NCP president Sunetra Pawar directed ministers, legislators, and office-bearers to treat the SIR as a top priority, asking Block Level Agents to cooperate with BLOs across all 288 Assembly constituencies. She specifically called for intensive work between 30 June and 29 July during the door-to-door enumeration phase.
How many BLAs have been appointed in Maharashtra for the SIR?
As of 26 May 2025, political parties have appointed 1,13,558 Block Level Agents (BLAs) across Maharashtra. The Election Commission of India has urged parties to maximise appointments before the June launch of the field exercise.
How will transparency be maintained during the SIR process?
State Chief Electoral Officer S. Chockalingam confirmed that draft lists of proposed voter deletions will be shared with recognised political parties at the Assembly constituency level. BLAs have the legal right to scrutinise these lists, raise objections, and challenge any wrongful deletion before the final roll is published.
Which other parties in Maharashtra are mobilising for the SIR?
Beyond the NCP, both the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena have directed their workers to prioritise the SIR. The BJP held a meeting attended by over 700 members, while Shiv Sena instructed workers to set aside other tasks and focus entirely on the voter-roll revision exercise.
