Lucknow: The revised tale of the electoral tape has not brought smiles to BJP faces in Uttar Pradesh. At least, not yet.
The constituency-wise breakup of voter deletions in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh could pose a challenge for the BJP as the largest cuts are in seats held by its own legislators. The constituencies of Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak and ministers Sunil Sharma, Arun Saxena, Suresh Khana, Yogendra Upadhyay are among those reporting the highest deletions in the SIR process which concluded on 10 April.
Gorakhpur, the political bastion of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, is among the areas with comparatively low voter deletions, with a relatively paltry 6.88 per cent of voters deleted.
According to the Uttar Pradesh Election Commission, the state had 15.44 crore voters in the electoral roll frozen on 27 October 2025 which has now dropped to 13.39 crore, meaning a reduction of around 2.05 crore voters following the SIR.
Data released later shows that BJP strongholds like Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, and Agra have witnessed higher deletions. In contrast, districts like Rampur, Moradabad, Sambhal and Saharanpur (minority dominated), where the Opposition has a stronger presence, have seen relatively fewer deletions.
As per the data accessed by ThePrint, of the 16 seats where voter deletions have exceeded 1 lakh, 15 are held by the BJP. Of the 21 seats with deletions between 80,000 and 99,000, 19 are represented by BJP. Similarly, among the 82 seats where deletions ranged from 50,000 to 80,000, 55 have BJP legislators.
Among the top 15 seats with deletion rates exceeding 25 per cent, 13 are represented by BJP while 2 are held by the SP.
As per the data, the highest percentage of voter deletions was recorded in Lucknow Cantt, where 34.18 per cent of voters were removed during the SIR process. The seat is represented by Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak. Similarly, Sahibabad, held by state Electronics and Information Technology Minister Sunil Sharma saw 30.36 per cent voter deletion. Another minister, Yogendra Upadhyay, witnessed deletions of 25.68 per cent in his constituency.
None of the ministers have spoken out publicly on the issue, but sources indicate unease following the SIR list, with leaders reportedly asking booth-level workers to manually verify which caste groups have been most affected by the deletions.
BJP MLA from Bareilly Cantt Sanjeev Agarwal, where 25.95 per cent of voters were deleted, said, “’The confusion arose due to the panchayat polls, which led to the SIR exercise. Many voters who had dual registrations chose to retain their vote at their ancestral village address rather than in urban areas. We are now trying to convince them to fill Form 6 (for new voters) to shift their vote back to the urban constituency.”
On the other hand, Giriraj Singh Dharmesh, BJP MLA from Agra Cantt where 30.47 per cent deletions were recorded, told ThePrint, “Around 70–80 per cent of the deletions in my constituency are justified, as these were either duplicate voters or people who have not lived in the area for a long time. However, we need to examine the remaining 20 per cent to understand what went wrong. At present, we are conducting a booth-wise review after the SIR and will encourage our core voters to fill Form 6 if their names have been removed.”
Also Read: Deleted names, shaken loyalties: Final SIR rolls unsettles BJP’s hold over Matuas
Minority-dominated seats fare better
Minority-dominated seats such as Kundarki and Thakurdwara in Moradabad, Kairana in Shamli and Mubarakpur in Azamgarh have witnessed relatively low deletions, with just 4.93 per cent, 6.38 per cent, 7.52 per cent, and 7.49 per cent of voters removed, respectively. In these seats, the Muslim population is considered to be over 30 per cent.
A senior functionary in the Samajwadi Party who has been overseeing the SIR process, told ThePrint, “’The final SIR data is not very favourable to us but it is not entirely against us either. In fact, it appears to have caused more damage to the BJP, as the most voter deletions have taken place in urban constituencies.
“If you look at the bottom three constituencies in terms of deletions, you will find Kundarki, a minority-dominated seat where the BJP managed to win and recording only 4.93 per cent deletions. Similarly Thakurdwara in Moradabad, where we have a Muslim MLA, saw just 6.38 per cent of voters deleted. See the top 15 seats on the top and bottom of the data, and you will get who is on beneficiary side.
“What this data suggests is clear the highest deletions have occurred in BJP strongholds rather than in SP-held constituencies,” he said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a state BJP functionary said, “’We need much more planning to add new voters in urban constituencies, otherwise it could hurt us. Take the example of our Finance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna’s constituency Shahjahanpur. Over 1 lakh votes, or around 24 per cent, have been deleted compared to the previous voter list, while he won the last election by just about 9,000 votes. In seats where the margin was under 10,000, we need to add new voters; otherwise, it could harm us in the 2027 polls.”
Prescient Yogi
In December last year, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath himself flagged the issue while cautioning party workers. Speaking in Lucknow, he mentioned that with Uttar Pradesh’s population at around 25 crore, nearly 65 per cent should be eligible voters, taking the total to about 16 crore. However, the SIR process had then covered only around 12 crore voters, leaving nearly four crore eligible voters unaccounted for, “85 to 90 per cent of whom are ours, “ he said.
Following this, state BJP president Pankaj Chaudhary also asked party workers to focus on the SIR exercise and ensure that core voters were made aware of it. Despite these efforts, unease persisted within party circles, as the deletion of nearly 18.7 per cent of voters was seen as a major concern. Even after revisions, over 13 per cent deletions have been recorded, largely concentrated in BJP-dominated seats.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
Also Read: Final Uttar Pradesh SIR numbers are out: 2.04 crore names deleted, over 13% of voters