Barabanki MP says Uttar Pradesh SIRs show rural voters exceed total number of voters in State; SC asks Election Commission to explain

The Supreme Court on Thursday (January 15, 2026) asked the Election Commission of India to examine a one-page note submitted by Barabanki MP Tanuj Punia, which alleged that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of rural voters in Uttar Pradesh far exceeded the number of voters for the entire state.

Appearing before Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, senior advocate Salman Khurshid and advocate Shariq Ahmed pointed out the disparity in the number of voters following two separate SIRs, one by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the other by the State Election Commission in Uttar Pradesh.

“The Election Commission of India has carried out the SIR of the UP Assembly voter rolls for the entire State. At the same time, the State Election Commission has carried out the SIR of the Panchayat (rural) voter rolls. After the Assembly SIR, the total number of voters in UP is shown as 12.56 crore, reflecting a reduction of about 2.89 crore voters. After the Panchayat SIR, the number of rural voters alone is shown as: 12.69 crore, approx. These two figures cannot coexist, reflecting an increase of 40 lakh voters.

Mr Khurshid argued that the anomaly affected the credibility of the SIR process and had a direct impact on the right to vote and free and fair elections.

“The Election Commission must clarify which SIR is correct and on what basis because both cannot be correct,” he said.

In a separate hearing, the Board asked the ECI to consider extending the deadline for objections by those not included in the draft electoral roll in Kerala.

Ranjit Kumar, senior advocate of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which leads the LDF government in Kerala, said around 24 lakh people have been excluded from the draft list.

Mr Kumar said the list of deleted names and details were not publicly available. He said people should check the list to see if they have been removed so they can appeal. The court ordered the EC to publish the list in panchayats and other local public offices, besides uploading it on its website, if it has not already been done.