"Purity of electoral rolls and inclusiveness of the franchise are complementary, not competing, goals." Examine with reference to the Special Intensive Revision.

Article 326 gives the vote to every adult citizen who is ordinarily resident in a constituency and not disqualified. Article 324 places the preparation of rolls under the Election Commission of India (ECI). The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) sets itself both goals at once: "no eligible citizen left out, no ineligible person included" [2]. The two goals fit together in principle, but in practice the outcome depends on how the revision is carried out.

Why purity and inclusion support each other

• Accurate rolls protect real votes. Removing dead and duplicate entries prevents impersonation. In May 2026 the Supreme Court upheld ECI's Art. 324 power to conduct SIR because it serves free and fair elections [4].
• One visit serves both goals. SIR is the first house-to-house enumeration since 2002–04. BLOs visit each household at least three times and carry blank Form 6s so new voters can be enrolled during the same visit [1].
• Easier documentation. The Court directed ECI to accept Aadhaar as the 12th identity document, which widens access without diluting checks [4].
• Built-in safeguards. SIR runs in phases, with draft rolls and a claims-and-objections stage [3][6].

Where the method turns them into rivals

• Scale of exclusion. About 13.3 crore names have been deleted in States where SIR is complete [5].
• The burden falls on the voter. Electors must link themselves to the 2002–04 roll. A deleted long-time voter has to re-enter through Form 6, the form meant for new electors [1][5].
• Deletions on "shifted" grounds. Migrants, the urban poor and women who moved after marriage remain eligible under Art. 326. When the check is based on address, deletion shrinks the roll without making it any more accurate.
• Administrative strain. BLOs are overloaded, and a uniform target of 20–25 electors a week may not be enough for booths with heavy losses [5].

Course-correction

• ECI's one-month drive, which compares pre-SIR rolls with current rolls and sends BLOs door to door, puts the burden back on the State [5].
• Further steps: publish the reason for each deletion, searchable by EPIC number; hand "shifted" voters on to the officer for their new address; size deadlines to the number of deletions; and release the State-wise results.

Removing dead and duplicate entries serves both purity and inclusion, while deleting voters merely because they were "not found" works against inclusion. If verification is transparent and ECI actively re-enrols eligible voters, SIR can deliver the Constitution's promise of universal adult franchise, so that every eligible citizen is on a roll somewhere.