New Delhi, Dec 10 (NationPress) Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav on Wednesday issued a strong criticism of the Election Commission of India, asserting that the ECI seemed to be in a state of confusion during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process affecting 12 states and union territories.

In an interview with IANS, Ram Gopal Yadav stated, “We believe the Election Commission itself is confused regarding the SIR. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have erroneously categorized numerous individuals as absent, permanently relocated, or even deceased. Shockingly, some individuals marked as deceased are still alive.”

He emphasized, “If this trend persists on such a large scale, it will lead to a significant reduction in votes.”

Yadav further elaborated, “A voter registered in 2003, who remains eligible in 2025, need not provide any documentation as per the Election Commission’s regulations. They simply need to fill out a form to maintain their voter status. There are countless such instances. For example, I have been casting my vote since 1967, long before 2003, and plan to continue voting in 2025. Yet, we have been assigned to Category C, and now we are receiving notices requesting documents. On one hand, the Election Commission claims no documents are necessary; on the other, to alleviate the burden on officials, everyone has been placed in Category C.”

“Before any votes are deleted, a notice must be issued. The SDM mentioned that notices were dispatched, but many people did not receive them. If you don’t receive the notice, you cannot respond, leading to vote deletions. Already, two to three lakh votes have been cut, and this number could climb by another two to three lakh. Only about 50 percent of the votes may remain. This is the pressing issue, and many are failing to grasp its seriousness,” he conveyed to IANS.

In the meantime, on December 1, the Election Commission extended the timeline for SIR Phase 2 across all 12 states and union territories, granting an additional week for BLOs to share the list of absent, shifted, deceased, and duplicate voters with booth-level agents (BLAs) of political parties prior to the publication of the draft electoral roll, ensuring complete transparency. The enumeration period will now extend until December 11 instead of the previously scheduled December 4.

The draft electoral roll is now set to be published on December 16 rather than December 9. Claims and objections can be submitted until January 15, 2026, with the final roll due to be published on February 14, a shift from the earlier February 7.