Written by Shaju PhilipThiruvanathapuram | Updated: September 23, 2025 01:09 AM IST 2 min readAn SIR was previously held in Kerala in 2002. Political parties from both the ruling Left front and the Congress-led Opposition alliance have opposed conducting a new SIR (Representative image/File Photo)The Chief Electoral Officer of Kerala has urged the Election Commission to postpone its plans for a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters’ list in the state, citing the upcoming local body elections.“The CEO had held a meeting with representatives of political parties on Saturday as a precursor for commencing the Special Intensive Revision of the voters’ list. At the meeting, representatives of ruling and Opposition parties in the state demanded that the SIR be postponed, considering local body elections. Hence, the CEO, Kerala, has urged the Election Commission of India to postpone the SIR in the state,” sources at the Chief Electoral Officer’s office said.Political parties in Kerala are gearing up for elections to local bodies, which will complete their five-year term in December this year. The next Assembly election in the state is set to be held in April-May 2026.Although the Election Commission has not announced a schedule for the all-India rollout of SIR, Kerala’s CEO has taken several initiatives as part of preparations. Apart from conducting a meeting of representatives from all political parties, the CEO had also begun a campaign — “Stay ready, SIR is coming.”An SIR was previously held in Kerala in 2002. Political parties from both the ruling Left front and the Congress-led Opposition alliance have opposed conducting a new SIR. Only the BJP has not opposed the exercise.Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary M Liju, who attended the all-party meeting along with Congress MLA P C Vishnunadh, said: “If the 2002 electoral roll is taken as the base, around 50 lakh voters face the threat of removal from the voters’ list. It will work out to around 20,000 voters in an Assembly constituency. Hence, we have opposed conducting the SIR.”“Besides, it would be impractical to conduct the process ahead of the local body elections. Now, our focus is on local body elections, and the verification of voters needs the participation of representatives of political parties. When the political workers in Kerala are engaged in the local body election process, revision of the electoral roll will be impractical,” he said.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:electoral rolls revision