BJP Nagaland defends SIR as voter roll revision nears end

DIMAPUR – The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Nagaland has come out in defence of the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, adopting a memorandum to the President of India at a gathering of party members and invited citizens in Dimapur on Friday, 6 November 2026.

The meeting comes as the revision enters its last stretch in the state. Nagaland’s draft roll, published in September, carried roughly 1.5 lakh fewer electors than the pre-revision list, and the final roll is now due on 30 November.

The party’s Dimapur, Chümoukedima and Niuland district units hosted the event, described as an “Intellectual Meet” and an “Eminent Citizens‘ Dialogue“, at the BJP Dimapur District Office. It was held under the state unit’s “Loktantra Bachao, Bheed Tantra Hatao” (Save Democracy, Remove Mob Rule) Campaign 2026, according to a press release from the Media Cell of BJP Nagaland.

The memorandum, signed by those attending, backs the “integrity, independence and constitutional authority” of the ECI, the release said. The party has not made the full text public or said how many people signed it.

BJP Nagaland SIR meet: ‘Commission’s exercise’

The guest speaker, Arvind Damani, a national vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the party’s youth wing, said the revision was being carried out by the ECI as an independent constitutional body, and not by the BJP.

He said the process followed established procedures and would run until 25 November. That date matches Nagaland’s revised schedule: the ECI, in a letter dated 29 October, extended the period for hearing notices and disposing of claims and objections in the state to 25 November, and pushed final publication of the roll to 30 November, The Morung Express reported.

The ’13 crore’ figure

Much of Damani’s address dealt with the claim, raised by the Congress and other opposition parties, that some 13 crore names have been struck off voter lists across the country. Also Read Kohima to Hold Special Camps for SIR 2026 on October 9

Damani said the figure referred to entries flagged for verification at the draft stage, not to final deletions. He broke it down as about 2.8 crore electors recorded as dead, 6.3 crore as permanently shifted, 3 crore as absent or untraceable, and nearly 1 crore as duplicate entries.

His figures match those the ECI itself released in early October, when it called the deletion claim “misleading”, the Free Press Journal reported. The Commission groups these entries as absent, shifted, dead or duplicate (ASDD), and says eligible voters among them can still file claims before final rolls are prepared.

Damani also pointed to the number of deaths recorded in India every year, and said the last comparable exercise was held in 2002–04, so large changes to the rolls over two decades were to be expected. Critics of the SIR have disputed that the earlier revision is a like-for-like precedent.

He said the aim was an accurate, up-to-date roll that removes ineligible entries in line with the law while keeping every eligible citizen on it.

Opposition and the CEC

Without naming any party, Damani accused “certain political groups” of stoking fear and distrust about an institutional process for political gain. Responding to calls for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to step down, he said constitutional bodies must be shielded from political interference.

The SIR remains contested nationally. Opposition parties of the INDIA bloc have staged protests against it, and 23 opposition parties wrote to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant in June alleging that the exercise was exclusionary. In October, the farmers’ platform Samyukt Kisan Morcha demanded that the revision be scrapped and the CEC removed.

The BJP has, in turn, launched a nationwide counter-campaign. Its youth wing began an outreach under the banner “Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao” (Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy) on 25 October, to run until 30 November, PTI reported.

Damani also spoke about the revised Form 6, the application used to enrol as a new voter, saying it was meant to make registration easier for young and first-time voters. He urged those present to check facts, reject misinformation and protect the credibility of democratic institutions.

How the SIR has played out in Nagaland

Nagaland is among 16 states and three Union Territories in the third phase of the SIR. Booth-level officers went door to door between 16 August and 14 September.

The draft roll published on 20 September listed 12,06,457 electors, including 7,001 service voters, against 13,57,208 before the revision, according to figures reported by The Morung Express. About 1.58 lakh entries fell in the ASDD categories: some 1.24 lakh absent, shifted or unverified, about 29,000 dead, and 5,059 duplicates.

Dimapur saw the sharpest fall. Its three Assembly constituencies recorded 36,629 deletions, the highest in the state, with the draft roll at 89,074 against 1,25,703 electors in 2025, the paper reported.

Voters left out of the draft roll could file claims between 20 September and 20 October. Eligible citizens who are still not on the roll can apply for inclusion using Form 6.

Friday’s programme was chaired by V. Shekishe Achumi, president of the BJP’s Dimapur district unit. District secretary Pelesinou offered the invocation prayer, and fellow secretary Ankit Jain proposed the vote of thanks.

This report is based on a press release from the Media Cell of BJP Nagaland, as carried by Nagaland Today (NT News) and Hub Network, with additional reporting by Nagaland.News.