New Delhi: The Election Commission is preparing to launch the third phase of its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the coming days, a move expected to cover nearly 40 crore voters across the remaining 22 states and Union Territories, officials said on Monday.

The nationwide voter roll verification exercise had been temporarily delayed due to Assembly elections in Kerala, Assam, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, which concluded last month. With the election process now over, officials indicated that the next phase of the revision drive is set to begin shortly.

So far, the SIR exercise has been completed in 10 states and three Union Territories, including Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa and Bihar, along with Puducherry, Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Assam underwent a separate “special revision” of electoral rolls.

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According to Election Commission data, around 60 crore of the country’s nearly 99 crore registered voters have already been covered under the clean-up exercise. The remaining 40 crore electors in 17 states and five Union Territories are expected to be included in the upcoming phase.

In February, the Election Commission directed chief electoral officers in the remaining states and UTs — including Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir — to complete preparatory work for the revision process.

The poll body said the pan-India SIR exercise had originally been ordered in June last year, though schedules have undergone repeated changes due to administrative and legal challenges.

The revision process has also sparked political controversy. Opposition parties have accused the Election Commission of using the exercise to target voters perceived to be opposed to the BJP and its allies. Several parties approached the Supreme Court over the exercise in states including Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had personally appealed before the Supreme Court against the voter roll revision in her state, alleging potential misuse of the process.

The controversy intensified after Election Commission officials claimed during preparations in Bihar that suspected foreign nationals from Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar had been identified during field verification. However, the poll authority did not subsequently release detailed figures or evidence regarding those claims.

Data released by the Election Commission and state officials showed that the combined electoral rolls of nine states and three Union Territories were reduced by 10.2 per cent following the SIR exercise. More than 60 lakh deceased voters were removed from the rolls, including over 25 lakh in Uttar Pradesh and 24 lakh in West Bengal.

In addition, more than 63 lakh names were deleted after objections and adjudication during the verification process.

The second phase of the revision exercise, which covered nearly 51 crore electors across 10 states and three UTs, has now concluded with updated electoral rolls officially published.