Bhubaneswar, 20th Aug 2025: The issue of Special Independent Revision (SIR) of voter lists in Bihar has created a stir across the country. With reports that about 65 lakh names may be deleted from the electoral roll, the Election Commission and opposition parties have locked horns. The matter has already reached from the streets to Parliament, and now even to the Supreme Court.
In this context, the Chief Electoral Officer of Odisha, R.S. Gopalan, has informed that the process of Special Independent Revision of voter lists will soon begin in Odisha as well, along with other states. He said that the last voter list revision in Odisha was carried out in 2002, and after 24 years, another revision will now be undertaken.
At a press conference today, the Chief Electoral Officer briefed the media about preparations for SIR. Referring to the allegations raised by different political parties about discrepancies in the electoral process, he described “vote theft” as a fictional issue.
During the last election, the main opposition party BJD had lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India regarding about 42 lakh votes across various constituencies in the state. All political party agents had been given Form 17-C. The BJD also submitted documentary evidence showing that in some parliamentary constituencies, the number of votes counted was more than the number of votes cast in EVMs.
Similarly, in several parliamentary constituencies, significant discrepancies were found between the total votes cast in the Lok Sabha segment and the votes recorded in the assembly constituencies under it. In some cases, even after the election process had ended, the difference was found to range from 7 percent to as high as 30 percent.