Guwahati, 31 October (HS): Union Minister of State for Education and DoNER Sukanta Majumdar on Saturday described the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as a constitutional process aimed at ensuring transparency, accuracy and credibility in elections.

Addressing a press conference at the Assam BJP headquarters under the slogan Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao, Majumdar said the exercise was intended to identify deceased, shifted, absent and duplicate voters. He clarified that names marked in the draft electoral rolls did not automatically mean cancellation of voting rights, as final decisions would follow claims, objections and prescribed legal procedures.

Citing historical records, he said 12 intensive revision exercises had been conducted since 1952, of which 10 took place during Congress-led governments. He questioned the Congress's opposition to the current exercise.

Referring to around 13 crore voter entries identified for verification, Majumdar said 6.3 crore related to potentially permanently shifted voters, three crore to absent voters, 2.8 crore to deceased persons and one crore to duplicate registrations. He maintained that these were preliminary figures and should not be projected as final deletions.

He also cited figures from 10 states to underline the need for removing deceased and duplicate entries. Defending the safeguards, he said BLOs would conduct three rounds of door-to-door verification, while voters would have opportunities to file claims and objections and appeal against decisions.

Majumdar claimed that over 700 judicial officers had been deployed to review more than 60 lakh disputed deletions in West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand following Supreme Court directions.

He further claimed that around 2.37 crore voters aged 18-28 had been enrolled since June 2025. Criticising the Congress, he said its electoral decline in several states had begun much before the SIR exercise.

Speak with facts, not misinformation; respect constitutional processes, not anarchy, he said, urging political parties not to spread confusion over the electoral revision process.

State Media Relations Department convenor Dewan Dhruvajyoti Maral and BJP spokesperson Manas Saraniya were also present at the press conference.------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Sriprakash