StatesRajasthan
Nearly 30 lakh more names on Rajasthan's local poll rolls than on the SIR roll, says Nikhil Dey
The rights activist says 26.63 lakh voters deleted in the SIR still appear in the State Election Commission's urban and panchayat lists. The commission says it used the older roll because its preparations began early.
Key points
- Activist Nikhil Dey says 26.63 lakh voters deleted in the SIR still appear in Rajasthan's local body rolls.
- The State Election Commission's lists carry about 5.45 crore voters, against 5.15 crore on the final SIR roll.
- The commission says it built the lists on the pre-SIR roll of January 1, 2025.
Rajasthan’s local body voter lists carry nearly 30 lakh more names than the Election Commission’s final SIR roll, the rights activist Nikhil Dey said in Jaipur on Sunday.
Dey, the founder of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, said his analysis found that 26.63 lakh voters deleted during the SIR still appear in the State Election Commission’s 2026 urban and panchayat rolls. He asked how booth-level officers could mark a voter as deceased in one roll and leave the same person on another.
The gap in numbers
The Election Commission’s final SIR roll, published in February 2026, cut Rajasthan’s electorate from 5.47 crore to 5.15 crore. A total of 44.28 lakh names were deleted and 12.91 lakh were added. The State Election Commission’s lists for the same 199 assembly constituencies still carry about 5.45 crore voters, nearly 30 lakh more than the SIR roll.
Dey questioned why the commission chose its older roll when the final SIR list was available. Electoral rolls are updated continuously, he said, and the commission could have adopted the newer one. He also asked why the commission regarded the older roll as the more accurate of the two.
What the commission says
State Election Commission Secretary Rajesh Verma said the commission used the Election Commission’s pre-SIR roll, last updated on January 1, 2025, as the base for the local body polls. He said the commission has traditionally relied on rolls revised through the annual Special Summary Revision, and the difference arises because preparations for local elections began much earlier.
Chief Electoral Officer Naveen Mahajan said the State Election Commission relied on the pre-SIR list. He said no objections had been raised in Rajasthan about the final SIR roll.
The panchayat elections are already under way in the state. No direct response from the Election Commission to Dey’s claims had been reported by Sunday afternoon.