Articles
Electors’ confusion regarding filling up SIR Enumeration
Opinion | Articles | Isaac Harold Gomes | 10-Nov-2025
At a time when the country is facing several tenacious problems namely volatile geopolitics in our neighbouring countries, very high US Tariff and Special Intensive Revision (SIR), it’s ironic that the shifting of stray dogs to safe shelters has made the headlines even eclipsing our women cricketers who won their historic maiden World Cup ODI Championship in Navi Mumbai!
To come back to the hottest topic SIR, of late the following critical developments have taken place:
- On 7thNovember 2025, Senior Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the Association of Democratic Rights (ADR), informed the Supreme Court Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, that the Election Commission of India (ECI) had been declining to accept Aadhaar as proof of identity of voters. In its verdict on 08 September 2025, the apex court had categorically instructed the ECI to accept Aadhaar as one of the proofs of identity. Bhushan requested the Bench for an urgent listing (hearing to take place on 11.11.2025).
- The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu has also challenged SIR in the Supreme Court and requested it to quash SIR in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and other states and three Union Territories on the ground that it would disenfranchise lakhs of voters across the country, besides affecting the citizenship rights of many.
- The ECI was reluctant to accept Aadhaar and EPIC as proofs of identity of voters. It’s astonishing that the ECI refuses to accept, EPIC as proofs of identity, a crucial document it has itself issued! Readers may refer to Times of India 29.07.2025 report SIR in Bihar – Accept Aadhaar along with Voter ID link:https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/sir-in-bihar-accept-aadhaar-along-with-voter-id-sc-tells-ec/articleshow/122961065.cms
- According to The Telegraph Calcutta of 08.11.2025, a senior bureaucrat who had earlier participated in the electoral process, said that in this SIR, the entire past of the voter is suspected. In fact, it’s worse. If a citizen doesn’t fill out the Enumeration Form (EF)this time, his/her name will be deleted from the Electoral Roll immediately and his/her entire past is comprehensively rejected.
- The bureaucrat questioned if the ECI’s intent was clear, why are there no advertisements/communications with precise clarity from its end to this effect, why no media conferences and no FAQs to dispel the voters’ anxiety? In today’s age of electronic/digital media when it’s so easy to reach out to the citizens, ECI’s silence and opacity is stupefying and totally avoidable.
- There is another technical difference. In SIR-2002, there was no election next year. This time the assembly elections are round the corner in several states and so there’s time constraint. This makes the job fraught with the wrongful omission of names. The million-dollar question is: why is the ECI in such a rush?
- On 06 November 2025, the Calcutta High Court directed the ECI to file its response in connection with a Public Interest Litigation regarding SIR in West Bengal. A division bench comprising Justice Sujoy Pal and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen passed the order, asking the ECI to submit its reply before the next hearing on November 19. Advocate Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, appearing for the petitioner Pintu Karar, questioned the use of 2002 data as the base year for SIR and argued that it be carried out based on the updated 2025 data instead. The ECI froze the voters’ list as on 27.10.2025 midnight.
The above contention on ECI’s fixation in 2002 is quite logical. It implies all the elections conducted after SIR-2002 are invalid and so are the elected governments!
In this connection, the following amusing message is doing rounds on social media:
Aadhaar Card linked to PAN Card,
Aadhaar Card linked to Ration Card,
Aadhaar Card linked to Bank Account,
Aadhaar Card linked to School Exams,
Aadhaar Card linked to Gas Cylinder,
Aadhaar Card linked to Mobile Number,
Aadhaar Card linked to Office Attendance,
Aadhaar Card made mandatory for all Government Schemes…
But Aadhaar Card is not linked to the Voter ID Card… Why????
Because… of the clever and cunning politicians!
If Aadhaar gets linked to Voter ID,
Multiple votes under one name will stop.
One person voting under two different names will stop.
Fake and duplicate votes will disappear —
just like fake names were removed from ration cards.
The Government fines ₹1,000 if you don’t link Aadhaar with PAN —
then why is it not made compulsory for voting too?
During lockdown, we all took the vaccine,
and our Aadhaar was linked instantly for that!
So why is the Election Commission’s horse still standing still?
Is this what they call “Clean India”? Wake up, Voter!
Regarding the SIR Enumeration Form (EF), Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will deliver two copies of the EF. The top of the EF will be pre-printed with the name and phone number of the BLO and the respective voter’s name, EPIC number, residential address, his/her voting booth name with part and serial number. Below this there will be three boxes. In the first box, details (date of birth, Aadhaar and phone numbers, parents’ and spouse’s names and their EPIC numbers need to be filled up as per the voters’ list in 2025. The second box (left) need to be filled up exactly as per voters list in 2002. Third box (right) is to be filled by voters whose names do not appear in 2002 voters’ list, but either of their parents or paternal grandparents’ name is on the list. One copy the EF is to be filled up and submitted to the BLO when he/she revisits after a few days. The other filled-up copy is to be retained by the voter after getting it duly signed and stamped by the BLO.
But how correct are the above enunciations? There is no guideline from the ECI on this. With effect from 08.11.2025, EFs can also be filled online. The ECI link is
Considering the above pitfalls, all the Dioceses of India must conduct SIR Awareness Camps so that not a single Christian voter is deleted from the voters’ list. They might seek the expert guidance of Christian MPs/lawyers in their respective diocese and can even make an online platform for widespread dissemination of the correct information/EF fill-up technique. Recently TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien enlightened the Christian Community of Ranchi Archdiocese in a well-attended programme titled SPEAK UP RANCHI. All the Dioceses must utilise his expertise. The question is when will our Church-Laity combine wake up from their sweet slumber?
(The contributor is a member of the Indian Catholic Press Association, a social activist, and a freelance journalist. He writes for different publications on various issues. He can be reached @ isaac25gomes@gmail.com. Views expressed are personal)
Visitor comments
Francis Mondal
13-Nov-2025
Readers may refer to the following link in the Telegraph Calcutta dated 13 November 2025 regarding ECI's warning to some Booth Level Officers (BLOs) who were reported to have distributed SIR Enumeration Forms from the offices of political parties. In fact in many places for example Keorapukur and some other places, filled in Enumeration Forms were being checked by local party people and then being passed to the concerned BLO for his/her signature and stamp on the acknowledgement copies. https://epaper.telegraphindia.com/calcutta-edition/29/2025-11-13/page-5/article-225755710.html
francis mondal
10-Nov-2025
Isaac's article is a real eye opener and is in keeping with the credo "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."
Leave a comment
Isaac Gomes
19-Nov-2025
Today’s (19.11.2025) the Telegraph Calcutta carried a report captioned “SIR, let there be clarity and less confusion.” The common refrain is “Before rolling out the SIR in Bengal, the ECI should have reviewed the issues emerging from the Bihar (SIR) exercise and resolved those. Instead, the ECI rushed to implement the project in 12 states without ironing out these confusions. To make things clear, CEO’s office should have issued advertisements in the media in the public interest to remove the confusion.” Since then the CEO’s office has issued several clarifications, particularly the following: Question 1: The Enumeration Form has a slot for a picture, but it doesn’t say whether it is mandatory or optional. What to do? ECI: It’s up to the elector to decide he/she wants to attach a photograph to the Form. As for EC, attaching a photo is optional. Question 2: Women who were already married during the 2002 SIR and have their husband’s name as a relative in the then electoral roll, whose name should they write when filling up the details of the 2002 SIR? Should they write their father’s name or their husband’s name as it figured in the 2002 post-SIR electoral rolls? ECI: If the 2002 post-SIR electoral rolls have the woman’s father’s name a reference, she needs to write that. If her husband’s name is mentioned as a reference, then husband’s name will have to be written. Link of the report is https://epaper.telegraphindia.com/calcutta-edition/29/2025-11-19/page-6/article-4610522.html