Lucknow: A draft electoral roll in Uttar Pradesh has come as a shock to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with provisional data showing that nearly 2.89 crore names, or 18.7 percent of the electorate, could be deleted, many of them in BJP strongholds.
On the other hand, minority-dominated districts have seen fewer deletions in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which aims to clean up electoral rolls by removing ineligible and duplicate voters
According to the provisional data accessed by ThePrint, Lucknow recorded the highest number of voter deletions, with nearly 30 percent of the electorate, or around 12 lakh voters, removed from the rolls.
It is followed by Ghaziabad, where 28.83 percent (8.18 lakh) voters have been deleted, Kanpur Nagar at 25.50 percent (9 lakh), Meerut at 24.66 percent (6.65 lakh), Prayagraj at 24.64 percent (11.56 lakh), Gautam Buddha Nagar at 23.94 percent (4.47 lakh), and Agra at 23.25 percent (8.36 lakh).
Political observers said these districts are considered BJP strongholds, where the ruling party either holds the parliamentary seat or has the largest number of MLAs.
In contrast, minority-dominated districts such as Moradabad, Rampur, Bijnor, Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar, where the Muslim population exceeds 40 percent according to the 2011 Census, have not witnessed relatively major voter deletions.
Among these districts, Rampur tops the list with 18.29 percent, or 3.21 lakh voters, followed by Saharanpur at 16.37 percent (4.32 lakh), Muzaffarnagar at 16.29 percent (3.44 lakh), Moradabad at 15.76 percent (3.87 lakh), and Bijnor at 15.53 percent (4.27 lakh).
Sources in the Election Commission said these voters have been marked for deletion from the electoral rolls as their enumeration forms were marked as “uncollected” during the revision process. An analysis of the data also shows that predominantly urban districts are seeing higher deletions than relatively rural areas.
Those whose names have been excluded will have an opportunity to challenge the deletions starting 1 January.
The publication of the draft roll has been postponed from 31 December to 6 January 2026.
Also Read: Draft SIR: 58 lakh voters struck off West Bengal’s list, 41 lakh deleted in Rajasthan
Tension in ruling party
Although the final voter list is likely to be published on 6 March, the release of the draft electoral roll, expected to include around 12.55 crore voters, has already heightened tensions within the BJP.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath flagged the issue on 14 December, when he told the party cadre that with Uttar Pradesh’s population at around 25 crore, nearly 65 percent should be eligible to vote.
“By this calculation, the voter base should be nearly 16 crore. However, the SIR has so far covered only about 12 crore voters. This means nearly four crore eligible voters are missing from the electoral rolls, and 85-90 per cent of them are ‘ours’,” he said.
After Yogi’s statement, the newly appointed state party president, Pankaj Chaudhary, urged party workers to focus on the ongoing SIR process, but concern persists within BJP circles, with 18.7 percent of voters marked for deletion.
BJP functionaries are worried that seats considered party strongholds are seeing a higher number of voter deletions compared to its weaker seats.
“If we consider this data accurate as of now, it is an alarming situation, as there has not been much deletion from the electoral rolls in minority-dominated areas,” a senior UP BJP functionary told ThePrint.
“On the other hand, major urban centres like Lucknow and Ghaziabad have recorded the highest number of deletions. We need to review this data and begin working on adding new voters in these areas by informing people about Form 6,” the leader added.
Form 6 is used for new voter registrations. Those who are left out can fill Form 6 by providing the required documents and can become new voters.
On the other hand, the BJP’s state vice president, Vijay Bahadur Pathak, believes the party still has sufficient time to address the issue.
“For now, our focus will be on adding new voters in areas where the chances of deletions are higher. Besides this electoral rolls are updated once again before the polls, and we will concentrate on that process as well,” he said.
“At present, many people living in large urban centres prefer to vote using their rural addresses, which is why they are being reflected in the ‘deletion’ category. This is a natural process and not very shocking, but we do need to focus on adding new voters,” he added.
On the other hand, the Samajwadi Party, which has opposed the SIR process, appears internally confident as the districts witnessing the highest deletions are not considered its strongholds. In addition, the party has, for the first time, appointed over 1.5 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs) across the state.
“The percentage of ‘uncollectable forms’ or those ‘likely to be deleted’ is huge, and we have tried our best to make our cadre aware of the SIR. Though this exercise is somewhat annoying, it has helped us strengthen our organisation down to the booth level. Now we have our workers at every booth,” Samajwadi Party spokesperson Fakrul Hasan Chand told ThePrint.
“Earlier, we received reports that problems might arise in minority areas during the SIR; however, after our awareness camps, we have seen that people in those areas have participated actively in the process. Now we need to beware of the BJP’s further steps,” he added.
According to UP-based political analyst Dr Shilp Shikha Singh, an assistant professor at Lucknow’s Giri Institute of Development Studies, media reports suggesting the possible deletion of nearly 18.7 percent of total voters from the electoral rolls came as a shock to all political parties.
However, she noted that if a major portion of these deletions is concentrated in urban areas, it could increase pressure on the ruling party, which is traditionally stronger in cities.
“Whether it is Lucknow, Ghaziabad or Meerut, the electoral equations are generally considered favourable for the BJP. On the other hand, seats like Moradabad, Saharanpur and Rampur are usually seen as favourable for the Samajwadi Party, but for clarity, we should wait till 6 March when the final list will be published,” she said.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
Also Read: Why BJP is worried about SIR in Uttar Pradesh