UP BJP targets restoration of Hindu voters’ names before 2027 polls

Lucknow: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh has directed its district-level leaders to launch a campaign to restore the names of eligible Hindu voters allegedly deleted from electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

The campaign is expected to begin on November 20, with the party targeting the restoration of between 10,000 and 25,000 names in each Assembly constituency, The Indian Express reported.

The move follows Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s claim that 1.27 crore Hindu voters were allegedly missing from the state’s electoral rolls after the SIR exercise, and that the proportion of Muslim voters had increased by 1.65 per cent.

At a meeting in Lucknow on Friday, November 13, Yogi, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and state BJP president Pankaj Chaudhary asked party functionaries to focus on updating the voter lists over the next month.

Yogi labelled the next month “antim mauka (last chance)” to bring back these eligible voters. 

The SIR exercise in UP began on October 27, 2025, and concluded on April 10 this year. While the state had 15.44 crore electors before the SIR began, after SIR, the rolls shrank to 13.39 crore.

A BJP leader said the party would consider restoring 40 lakh to 80 lakh names a sufficient achievement. Adityanath reportedly described the coming month as the “last opportunity” to ensure that eligible voters were included in the rolls.

The BJP’s concern stems partly from the narrow margins in several constituencies during the 2022 Assembly elections. Party leaders fear that deleting even 5,000 to 10,000 voters could affect its prospects in the 2027 polls.

As part of the campaign, booth-level workers will identify voters who shifted their registration to rural constituencies or other states and help them move their names back to their preferred constituencies. The party also plans to focus on women and young voters who may have been left out.

A BJP leader told The Indian Express that the party would concentrate on constituencies where the restoration of Hindu voters’ names could improve its electoral chances, rather than Muslim-dominated seats it has traditionally struggled to win.

“If we consider the data of 1.27 crore names, their average deletion is 31,513 votes per Assembly constituency, which is a significant number. So the party has set a goal to reach out to the eligible voters left out and bring back to the rolls an average of 10,000 to 25,000 names,” the senior BJP leader said.

The Special Summary Revision (SSR) is currently underway to update electoral rolls. The draft rolls are scheduled to be published on November 17, while the period for filing claims and objections will continue until December 16. The final electoral rolls are expected to be published on January 4, 2027.

The campaign comes ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

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