"Mass revision of electoral rolls must balance purity with inclusion." Critically examine in light of the Special Intensive Revision.

Article 326 guarantees adult suffrage, and Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 lets the ECI order a special revision at any time [2][3]. The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) begins with Bihar in 2025: the rolls are prepared afresh through house-to-house enumeration. Its aim of a clean roll is legitimate. Whether it is fair depends on the method used.

Purity: the case for SIR

• Roll hygiene: Dead, shifted and duplicate entries build up over time and can be used for impersonation. The ECI's stated aim is to include every eligible citizen and exclude ineligible persons, with transparent additions and deletions [1].
• Constitutional mandate: Article 324 gives the ECI superintendence, direction and control over preparing the rolls [3]. Revising the rolls is its duty, not overreach.
• Credibility: A verified roll strengthens public trust in election results.

Inclusion: the concerns

• Burden-shift: In a summary revision, a voter stays on the roll unless someone objects. Under SIR, the voter must prove they are eligible, and the burden moves from the state to the citizen.
• Scale of exclusion: In Bihar, about 65 lakh names were dropped at the draft stage, and the final roll fell from 7.89 crore to 7.42 crore [4]. Migrants, the poor and women have the fewest documents to show.
• Document rigidity: The Supreme Court had to direct that Aadhaar be accepted as a 12th document for identity, while clarifying that it is not proof of citizenship [5].
• Trust deficit: Youth protests in Delhi demanding a halt to SIR and the CEC's removal show the referee itself under suspicion [6].

Balancing the two

• Publish booth-wise deletion lists, giving the reason for each deletion.
• Give notice and a hearing before deletion, with a time-bound appeal.
• Accept a wider range of documents and let BLOs help voters through field verification.
• Restore a neutral member to the ECI selection panel, as the Law Commission's 255th Report recommended [7].

Purity and inclusion conflict only when a revision is designed to clean the roll before it protects voters. If the process is transparent, consultative and puts the citizen first, SIR can make the roll both accurate and universal. That would fulfil the promise of Article 326 and keep the ECI's credibility as the guardian of free and fair elections.