New Delhi, Feb 19 (IANS) Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva on Thursday welcomed the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) decision to initiate the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the national capital, stating that the exercise would help identify and remove illegal foreign nationals from the voters’ list.

Sachdeva alleged that the revision exercise would help detect and remove names of Bangladeshi and Rohingya nationals allegedly residing illegally in Delhi whose names may have been included in the electoral rolls.

He said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has constituted teams of party workers at both the state and district levels to assist voters in resolving any issues they may face during the Special Intensive Revision exercise.

He added that each such team also includes a legal expert to provide necessary legal guidance and assistance to voters during the revision process.

Sachdeva said that the BJP would extend full cooperation to the Election Commission to ensure that the electoral rolls remain accurate and free from ineligible entries. He reiterated that the party would assist voters and ensure that the revision process is conducted smoothly and transparently.

Earlier in the day, the Election Commission initiated the preparatory process for the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in 22 States and Union Territories, including the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, with the exercise scheduled to begin from April 2026.

The States and Union Territories where the next round of Special Intensive Revision is scheduled include Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Ladakh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, NCT of Delhi, Odisha, Punjab, Sikkim, Tripura, Telangana, and Uttarakhand.

On Thursday, the Election Commission wrote to the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of these States and Union Territories, directing them to complete preparatory work related to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in a time-bound manner.

The advisory issued by Election Commission Secretary Pawan Diwan stated, “Since the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the above States/UTs is expected to commence from April 2026, you are requested to complete preparatory work related to the SIR exercise at the earliest.”

–IANS

rch/pgh