Guwahati: Election Commission of India's plan to carry out a special intensive revision of electoral rolls across seven northeastern states faces a stiff challenge in violence-hit Manipur, where officials say continuing ethnic tensions and displacement could disrupt the exercise.
The poll panel on Thursday announced a phased rollout of SIR across 16 states and three Union Territories as part of a nationwide drive to improve the accuracy, inclusiveness and transparency of voter lists.
The 16 states include seven of the eight northeastern states - Mizoram, Sikkim, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura.
A senior Manipur official, requesting anonymity, said conducting the exercise in the state would be "a herculean task". "Violence, curfews, blockades, rallies and bandhs are almost everyday affairs and, in this scenario, how can we do this exercise," the official told ET.
The official said the administration had managed to conduct the 2024 Lok Sabha elections under difficult conditions, with displaced people voting from relief camps and helicopters used to reach remote areas. However, SIR would require booth-level officers (BLOs) to travel extensively.
"In SIR, booth level officers must move out and there is hardly any movement. Normal movement of vehicles and people on highways from the valley to the hills has not resumed since May 3, 2023. Rehabilitation of displaced people remains a herculean task," the official said, adding violence has now spread to Naga-inhabited areas that had largely remained outside the conflict earlier.
Officials in the chief electoral officer's office in Meghalaya said the state was fully prepared for the forthcoming SIR of electoral rolls.
Officials in other northeastern states also said they were prepared to conduct the exercise in a transparent and participatory manner.
According to election officials, final electoral rolls will be published on September 6, 2026, in Mizoram, Sikkim and Manipur; September 22 in Arunachal Pradesh; October 7 in Meghalaya; November 22 in Nagaland; and November 23, 2026, in Tripura.
ECI did not conduct SIR in Assam because of incomplete NRC. Instead, it carried out special revision of rolls.
The poll panel on Thursday announced a phased rollout of SIR across 16 states and three Union Territories as part of a nationwide drive to improve the accuracy, inclusiveness and transparency of voter lists.
The 16 states include seven of the eight northeastern states - Mizoram, Sikkim, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura.
A senior Manipur official, requesting anonymity, said conducting the exercise in the state would be "a herculean task". "Violence, curfews, blockades, rallies and bandhs are almost everyday affairs and, in this scenario, how can we do this exercise," the official told ET.
The official said the administration had managed to conduct the 2024 Lok Sabha elections under difficult conditions, with displaced people voting from relief camps and helicopters used to reach remote areas. However, SIR would require booth-level officers (BLOs) to travel extensively.
"In SIR, booth level officers must move out and there is hardly any movement. Normal movement of vehicles and people on highways from the valley to the hills has not resumed since May 3, 2023. Rehabilitation of displaced people remains a herculean task," the official said, adding violence has now spread to Naga-inhabited areas that had largely remained outside the conflict earlier.
Officials in the chief electoral officer's office in Meghalaya said the state was fully prepared for the forthcoming SIR of electoral rolls.
Officials in other northeastern states also said they were prepared to conduct the exercise in a transparent and participatory manner.
According to election officials, final electoral rolls will be published on September 6, 2026, in Mizoram, Sikkim and Manipur; September 22 in Arunachal Pradesh; October 7 in Meghalaya; November 22 in Nagaland; and November 23, 2026, in Tripura.
ECI did not conduct SIR in Assam because of incomplete NRC. Instead, it carried out special revision of rolls.
