Bhubaneswar: As SIR continues in several states, former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi on Sunday targeted the Election Commission of India (ECI), questioning the exercise's stated purpose of detecting illegal immigrants while criticising the scale of voter exclusions.
"I would like to compliment the Election Commission for completing a very difficult mission of eliminating about 14-15 crore population of India through this exercise. I don't know how many illegal immigrants they have found, which was the main purpose of this exercise. It's a pity they have not disclosed this figure," he told ANI.
He urged the EC to release the number publicly to showcase their "great success" in achieving something that the National Population Commission was unable to do.
"I would request them to please come out with this figure, so that we know what a great success you have been, and also that you have achieved something that the National Population Commission could not do. You have contributed a lot to population control by eliminating about 15% of India's population," he said.
This is not the first time Quraishi has aimed at the exercise. He has previously said the SIR process is "not well-intentioned", arguing voting is a constitutional right, not a "charity" granted by the Election Commission.
"I think the entire SIR exercise is not well-intentioned. The way it has deleted crores of voters is tinkering with democracy. You are a citizen of India. I'm a citizen of India. Voting is our constitutional right. Article 326 says that everyone shall be registered. So it is not a charity from the Election Commission that they will give you that," he told ANI.
As per the Press Note of the ECI, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is being carried out in several states with the objective of ensuring that the electoral rolls are accurate, up-to-date, and free of ineligible or duplicate entries, while ensuring that no eligible elector is left out.
The Special Intensive Revision was announced nationwide in October 2025 by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. He has listed migration, voters registered at more than one place, names not deleted after death, or a foreign national's name being included in the voter list as factors leading to the decision.
The exercise has since been rolled out across several states and union territories, many of which have headed or are heading into elections. The drive has drawn sustained opposition criticism.
In recent times, the Maharashtra SIR has come under scrutiny after the publication of the draft voter list under Maharashtra's Special Intensive Revision, which reflected two crore fewer voters than the previous electoral roll.
According to data released by Maharashtra's Chief Electoral Officer, out of 9,78,54,049 electors, a total of 7,71,65,562 electors submitted their forms during the enumeration phase of the SIR as of August 17.
The drive has drawn sustained opposition criticism. Congress leader Pawan Khera has hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the alleged removal of two crore voters from Maharashtra's electoral roll under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), asserting that votes are being stolen in the state in real time.
The exercise remains a flashpoint between the ruling BJP and opposition parties, particularly in poll-bound states.
