Odisha SIR: Malkangiri records 27,653 deletions, highest in the State

Malkangiri, the southernmost Assembly segment of Odisha with a large number of Bangladeshi settlers, recorded the highest deletion of voters (27,653) from the electoral rolls following the first phase of special intensive revision (SIR) in the state.

The deletion accounted for 10.96% of the total voters. Before SIR, Malkangiri had 2,52,147 voters. The constituency has voters who migrated from Bangladesh in the early 1950s and mid-1980s. Later, the Odisha government established special villages and settled them.

The names of more than 20 lakh voters were deleted in the SIR draft report published on July 5. Before SIR, Odisha’s total electorate was 3,33,99,591, which dropped to 3,13,87,034. Of the deleted voters, 8.32 lakh or 2.49% were dead, while 10.07 lakh voters (3.02%) were either absent or shifted.

District-wise, Ganjam, which sends the highest number of migrant workers to different parts of the country and beyond, is the district with the highest number of write-offs with 2,07,626 voters, followed by Cuttack district with 1,55,164 voters.

There were nine such Assembly constituencies where more than 20,000 people were deleted each. More than half of these assembly sections are known as migration-prone pockets. Out of the total 147 Assembly constituencies, there were over 15,000 wipeouts in each of the 40 segments.

Biju Janata Dal objected to the draft report of the first phase of SIR on Sunday, June 5, 2026. He said 27 lakh voters have been deleted from the electoral roll against the claim that 20 Lakhs have been excluded. Congress also expressed concern about the large number of deletions.

Additional Chief Electoral Officer Sushanta Kumar Mishra said that the anomaly was noticed in the first phase of SIR as the names of deceased voters had to be deleted and 10.07 lakh voters were either absent or shifted. “Adequate opportunity to object will be provided to all those whose names are not included in the draft report,” he said.