BJD president Naveen Patnaik sought a review of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls as the Election Commission started a door-to-door verification drive. The campaign aims to help eligible voters left out of the rolls. Booth Level Officers will visit households to assist citizens with the necessary enrolment forms.

Bhubaneswar: BJD president and Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik has sought a thorough review of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, even as the Election Commission has launched a door-to-door verification campaign to identify eligible voters left out of the rolls in 20 states and Union Territories where the exercise has been completed.

Mr Patnaik, had on September 25, demanded the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, saying the reported differences among the Election Commissioners warranted his resignation and a fresh review of the SIR process.

He also reiterated that the BJD had opposed the SIR exercise from the beginning.

The EC's latest initiative will see Booth Level Officers (BLOs) visiting households to verify the present status of voters whose names were left out during the revision process. Those found eligible will be assisted in filing Form 6 for inclusion in the electoral roll.

Young citizens and first-time voters will also be covered under the campaign. Each BLO will be required to visit at least 20 to 25 households every week, with the exercise expected to be completed in about a month.

The move is particularly significant for Odisha, where the SIR process has already been completed and the Final Electoral Roll 2026 was published on September 21.

According to Odisha's Chief Electoral Officer R Santhanagopalan, the state now has 3,16,32,754 electors, comprising 1,61,30,319 males, 1,54,99,661 females and 2,774 third-gender voters.

Before the SIR, Odisha had 3,33,99,591 electors as on May 17, 2026. During the enumeration phase, forms were received from 3,13,87,034 electors, accounting for 93.97 per cent of the electorate.

The remaining 20,12,557 electors whose enumeration forms were not received were excluded from the Draft Electoral Roll published on July 5.

The CEO's office had attributed the non-receipt of forms to several possible reasons, including death, shifting, duplicate entries, absence and other factors. The draft roll contained 3,13,87,034 electors.

The latest door-to-door campaign is aimed at verifying the status of voters left out during the SIR and ensuring that those who remain eligible get an opportunity to seek inclusion in the electoral roll.

The EC has also directed BLOs to assist eligible voters with the enrolment process, including submission of Form 6.