Story perspectives

Odisha SIR Final Roll Adds 290,497 Voters

By Drooid · Oct 1, 2026, 10:16 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Chief Electoral Officer R. S. Gopalan filed for voluntary retirement on September 30, 2026.
He said the decision was for personal reasons and not related to the recent SIR.
Odisha completed its SIR and released a final roll of 31.6 million voters on September 21, 2026.
The final roll added 290,497 names and deleted 44,777 after claims and objections.
BJD and Congress challenged the deletion of roughly 1.7 million voters during the SIR.

History

Historical Context

India’s 1992 Representation of the People (Amendment) Act required the Election Commission to maintain a continuously updated electoral roll nationwide. This reform followed earlier changes such as the 1966 amendment that shifted election petitions to High Courts, and it sparked opposition from major parties while seeking to broaden voter participation across the country.

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Story summary

Chief Electoral Officer R. S. Gopalan filed for voluntary retirement on September 30, 2026.
He said the decision was for personal reasons and not related to the recent SIR.
Odisha completed its SIR and released a final roll of 31.6 million voters on September 21, 2026.
The final roll added 290,497 names and deleted 44,777 after claims and objections.
BJD and Congress challenged the deletion of roughly 1.7 million voters during the SIR.

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