Agartala, Sep 10 (IANS) Responding to the demand of various political parties, including the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Election Commission of India (ECI) has revised the schedule of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Tripura in view of the September 28 Village Committee elections in the state’s tribal areas.
With January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date in the state, the SIR exercise, which was earlier scheduled to commence from September 5, has now been deferred.
Additional Chief Electoral Officer (ACEO) U.J. Mog said on Wednesday that according to the new schedule issued by the ECI, the month-long house-to-house visits by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will begin on November 6 and continue till December 5, 2026.
The draft electoral rolls will be published on December 12, 2026.
Following the period for filing claims and objections and their subsequent disposal, the final electoral rolls will be published on February 15, 2027.
Tripura Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Brijesh Panday had earlier said that the SIR of electoral rolls for all 60 Assembly constituencies in the state was scheduled to commence on September 5 and conclude with the final publication of the electoral rolls on December 23.
Under the earlier schedule, the draft electoral rolls were scheduled to be published on October 21, 2026.
Tripura currently has 28.97 lakh electors, of whom 14.52 lakh are male and 14.45 lakh are female.
The state has 3,356 polling stations.
The ruling BJP in Tripura had earlier urged the ECI to defer the SIR of the electoral rolls in view of the September 28 Village Committee elections in the state’s tribal areas.
A BJP delegation, led by Rajya Sabha member Rajib Bhattacharjee, submitted a letter addressed to the ECI to state election officials, requesting the deferment of the SIR exercise.
Later, Bhattacharjee, the former State BJP President, said that during the Village Committee elections in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), most officials, BLOs, Booth Level Agents (BLAs) of political parties and others would remain engaged in the electoral process.
“The SIR exercise can be undertaken after the Village Committee elections are over. The state election officials would forward our letter to the ECI for taking the next course of action,” he told the media.
The main Opposition CPI-M has also supported the BJP’s demand for deferring the SIR exercise.
–IANS
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