Between 2024 and 2026, Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has become an important institutional tool of electoral governance in India. I assess the SIR in terms of its multifaceted implications in the five states of India, namely, Maharashtra, Telangana, Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, and pose the question: Does SIR serve as a tool that is democratically positive in promoting the accuracy of elections and the inclusion of voters, or is it a tool that is politically negative in promoting the disenfranchisement of voters? This paradox examines the diametrically opposed patterns of implementation of SIR and its state-specific deviations in India. For this study, I have employed a multi-method approach comprising qualitative field work in the five states, quantitative analysis of the datasets of the Election Commission of India (ECI), and an analytical framework of the political opposition and the political conflicts of the states. This dichotomy indicates the comparative success of SIR in the identification and enrolment of 87.6 million eligible voters for adding in the electoral rolls during the 2024-2026 SIR period. This analysis reveals regional and state differences in SIR due to the political scenario, the administrative system, the elite political system, and the ruling party's electoral regime. This study reveals the institutional opacity, elite capture, and procedural complexness of a politically driven approach with a bureaucratic facade. The paper summarises that SIR, despite apparent democratic goals, operates within a political economy that might benefit ruling coalition interests across diverse state contexts, necessitating institutional reforms to enhance transparency, multi-party oversight, and independent verification mechanisms.
Sudan et al. (Sun,) studied this question.