LUCKNOW, Jan. 7 -- The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday published the draft electoral rolls for Uttar Pradesh in which 28.9 million (2.89 crore) names were dropped under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, according to chief electoral officer Navdeep Rinwa. The draft rolls now list 125.5 million voters, compared to 154.4 million voters in the rolls published on October 27, 2025, after the special summary revision. "The EC will issue notices to 10.4 million (1.04 crore) voters whose names could not be matched or linked during the mapping exercise with the voter list of the last special intensive revision conducted in 2003", Rinwa said. These names have been provisionally included in the draft rolls, he added. The final electoral list will be published on March 6, Rinwa said. The urban regions of Uttar Pradesh witnessed a high percentage of deletions - Lucknow (30.04%) Ghaziabad (28.83%), Kanpur Nagar (25.50%), Prayagraj (24.64%), Meerut (24.65%), Gautam Buddha Nagar (23.98%) and Agra (23.25%). Rinwa said, after the launch of the Special Intensive Revision on November 4, booth level officers (BLOs) distributed enumeration forms to 154.4 million voters. A total of 125.5 million voters (81.30%) returned the enumeration forms while 18.70 % or 28.9 forms remained uncollectible. Among the 28.9 million uncollectible voters, 12. 9 million (8.40%) were categorised as permanently shifted, 4.6 million (2.99%) as deceased, 2.54 million ( 1.65%) as duplicate, and 7.95 million (5.15%) as untraceable, according to data. Another 774,472 voters (0.50%) had not returned enumeration forms after collecting them from booth-level officers. The enumeration phase of SIR had started in Uttar Pradesh on November 4. It concluded on December 26 after several extensions.The number of uncollectible voters in the state was 2.96 crore (29.6 million), according to December 11 data when the second round of the enumeration phase concluded. The figure dropped to 2.89 crore (28.9 million) voters going by December 26 data after the third round of the enumeration phase. The EC had extended the date of publication of the draft electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh thrice. According to the initial schedule, announced on October 27 the draft electoral roll was to be published on December 9. Later, the date for the draft roll publication was extended to December 16, then to December 31 and later to January 6. Under the EC's revised schedule announced on December 30, the notice phase, adjudication of enumeration forms, disposal of claims and objections will be from January 6 to February 6, 2026. The final publication of the Uttar Pradesh voter list will be done on March 6, 2026. The SIR exercise involved 172,000 booths, with booth-level officers working alongside volunteers to reach voters. Rinwa also acknowledged the support of political parties, saying 576,000 booth-level agents appointed by recognised parties assisted in the process. The EC also outlined clear remedies for eligible voters whose names do not appear in the draft electoral roll published after the SIR exercise. The Commission has opened a claims and objections window from January 6 to February 6, during which any eligible voter whose name is missing can apply for inclusion by submitting Form-6. Voters found registered at more than one place will be retained at only one verified location after scrutiny. Voters can check their names in the draft roll through BLOs, the ECINet mobile application, the chief electoral officer's website (ceouttarpradesh.nic.in) or the Election Commission portal voters.eci.gov.in. Applications can be submitted offline through BLOs or voter registration centres at tehsil offices, or online through the ECINet app and the ECI website. He said special efforts are being made to assist senior citizens, persons with disabilities and marginalised groups, while youth who turned 18 by January 1, 2026, are being encouraged to apply. More than 15.78 lakh (1.58 million) Form-6 applications have already been received. The officer said no name will be removed from the electoral roll without following due process, reiterating its commitment to a transparent, participatory and inclusive revision to ensure that no eligible voter is left out. The opposition parties in UP have criticised draft electoral rolls after the SIR exercise....