Fadnavis Defends Maharashtra SIR as Continuation of Decades-Old Electoral Roll Process

Fadnavis made the remarks in a post on X, a day after Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray jointly led a protest in Mumbai against the SIR exercise and demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The protesters also called for elections to be conducted using ballot papers.

Defending the exercise, Fadnavis said intensive revisions of electoral rolls were not a new development and had been undertaken at various points since Independence to improve the accuracy of voter lists and uphold the principle of "One Citizen, One Vote". The Chief Minister cited several previous rounds of intensive revision, including exercises conducted between 1952 and 1956, followed by revisions in 1957, 1961, 1965 and 1966.

He also referred to intensive enumeration exercises carried out during 1983-84, 1987-89, 1992, 1993 and 1995, as well as comprehensive revisions undertaken in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Fadnavis argued that these exercises were part of the Election Commission's longstanding effort to keep electoral rolls updated.

According to the Chief Minister, changes in voter demographics caused by urbanisation, migration, the addition of newly eligible voters, deaths and movement between constituencies make periodic verification necessary.

He said an intensive revision involves ground-level verification, including visits by enumerators to households, distribution and collection of official Enumeration Forms, removal of duplicate or deceased entries and an opportunity for voters to check and correct their details.

The Chief Electoral Officer, Maharashtra, is currently providing dedicated facilities for the 2026 SIR, including draft electoral rolls, claims and objections, name-search facilities and an absent, shifted, dead and duplicate voters list.

Fadnavis described the current exercise as a routine constitutional mechanism intended to maintain accurate electoral rolls and ensure that eligible voters are not excluded while preventing duplicate or otherwise invalid entries.

His remarks came amid growing opposition to the SIR in Maharashtra. The October 4 Virat Garjana Morcha led by Uddhav and Raj Thackeray brought together opposition leaders and supporters in Mumbai, with the protest focused on the Election Commission, the SIR exercise and the demand for ballot-paper voting.

Fadnavis also criticised the Thackeray cousins over their allegations concerning the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections and their demand for the removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

The Chief Minister pointed out that Kumar became Chief Election Commissioner in 2025, while the Maharashtra Assembly elections were held in 2024 and the current SIR exercise is taking place in 2026.

Fadnavis questioned how decisions taken by a CEC who assumed office after the 2024 election could have influenced the conduct of that election. He alleged that the Thackerays were directing their criticism towards the Election Commission after their electoral setbacks.

The Thackeray-led opposition, however, has maintained that the SIR exercise raises concerns over the electoral rolls and has called for it to be scrapped in Maharashtra. The dispute over the revision process and the functioning of the Election Commission is likely to remain a major political issue in the state.