As the deadline for Uttar Pradesh's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls approaches, Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa highlighted urban challenges but urged calm, noting the draft list is not final. He addressed concerns over Booth Level Officer deaths and political apprehensions amid the ongoing exercise.
Uttar Pradesh's electoral preparations are in full swing with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists, involving 1,62,486 polling booths and an equal number of Booth Level Officers (BLOs). Navdeep Rinwa, the state's Chief Electoral Officer, detailed the deployment in an interview, including 16,450 supervisors, 403 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) with four to five assistants each, and support from tax collection and sanitation workers in urban areas. By Friday, enumeration forms for nearly 55% of electors—8.5 crore—had been digitised.
Urban areas pose the main hurdles, Rinwa explained. BLOs often lack familiarity with assigned booths due to reassignments prioritizing government employees or contractual staff. Booth rationalisation, which caps voters per polling station, sometimes splits families across booths, requiring multiple visits to the same households. Incomplete voter addresses complicate matters further, especially in places like Noida where unnumbered houses necessitate several booths. In contrast, rural regions benefit from clear boundaries, family registers, and local connections like ration dealers and schools.
To ease the burden, District Election Officers have enlisted aid from municipal bodies and authorities such as the Noida authority, enabling over 1.10 crore forms to be digitised in a single day. An online portal encourages digital submissions. Rinwa stressed that the draft list, due on December 9, is provisional; exclusions can be rectified via Form 6, with the final roll set for February 7, 2026, followed by continuous updates ahead of assembly elections.
Regarding reported BLO deaths, including two suicides and a brain hemorrhage case in Lucknow—where the officer had been replaced a week earlier—Rinwa said investigations are underway. Support measures include assistance for technical issues, leaves for family events or medical needs, and replacements for those facing mental health challenges. Political parties have engaged actively, appointing 4.41 lakh Booth Level Agents after two meetings with Rinwa. While Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav alleged targeted deletions of 5 lakh voters from certain segments, Rinwa noted that complaints are being addressed and praised the party's agent deployment. On the deadline, efforts continue to meet it, though an extension may be sought if necessary.