A detailed report on the Chaos surrounding Uttar Pradesh’s SIR process — FIRs against BLOs, suspensions, administrative pressure, Noida controversies, and public anxiety over newly ordered detention centres.
By Qalam Times News Network
Lucknow | 24 November 2025
Chaos grips UP as SIR drive triggers confusion, anger, and political heat
Chaos is the word most people in Uttar Pradesh have been using to describe the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The process, meant to verify voter records, has instead created a wave of panic as citizens struggle with forms, outdated voter lists, and inconsistent instructions.
This Chaos has deepened in Noida, where the administration has filed over 60 FIRs against Booth Level Officers (BLOs) under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. Officials claim the BLOs ignored orders and skipped duty despite multiple reminders. BLOs counter that they were neither trained properly nor provided the crucial 2003 voter list that the Election Commission wants them to use for verification.
Noida under spotlight: FIRs, resignations, and questions about administrative pressure
The Chaos escalated further in Noida after District Magistrate Medha Roopam — daughter of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar — launched what local officers describe as an aggressive “war room–style” monitoring system. FIRs were registered across three police stations: Dadri, Ecotech Phase 1, and Jewar. In total, more than 60 BLOs and seven supervisors are now facing criminal cases.
Amid this pressure, a government school teacher serving as a BLO, Pinky Singh, resigned from her election duties, saying the workload had become unbearable. Several others have reported similar distress to their higher-ups.
Districts across UP report turmoil and technical failures
Multiple districts have reported their own version of the disorder:
- Basti: An SDM scolding a BLO went viral; FIRs followed immediately.
- Bulandshahr: Six BLOs booked for “negligence” in form distribution.
- Prayagraj: Twenty-four BLOs refused duty, citing unmanageable workload; FIRs filed.
- Aligarh: Election app malfunctioned, leaving voters terrified as their details wouldn’t upload.
- Kanpur & Gorakhpur: Residents say BLOs never reached their homes.
- Amroha: In rural belts, SIR never really began — forms weren’t distributed at all.
While the state claims 99.6% form distribution, only 19% digitisation has been completed, largely because voters say they don’t know how to fill the forms, and BLOs say they were never trained to guide them.
Suspensions and politically driven FIRs raise further concerns
In Bahraich, a Muslim principal and another teacher were suspended for allegedly ignoring SIR duties. In another case, a BJP leader’s complaint led to an FIR against a teacher-BLO who reportedly used harsh language during a phone call about form distribution.
These actions have deepened the sense of Chaos, especially among teachers pressed into BLO duty without training or support.
Opposition allegations: “Vote deletion, targeted scrutiny, and political motives”
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav alleges that SIR is being used as a political tool to cut votes in SP-leaning constituencies like Kannauj. He claims up to 50,000 names could be removed and has demanded a three-month extension beyond the 4 December deadline.
Meanwhile, Congress has branded the entire process as “vote theft” and announced a protest rally in Delhi on 14 December. Ironically, within Uttar Pradesh, the party has not yet appointed Booth Level Agents in most locations.
The detention centre order: coincidence or coordinated policy?
The Yogi Adityanath government has, in the middle of this Chaos, ordered every district to prepare a detention centre. This has triggered speculation on social media that people whose names don’t survive the SIR scrutiny — particularly Muslims — may later be labeled “foreign nationals” and placed in these centres.
Though the Supreme Court has not given a clear verdict on SIR, the timing of the detention-centre directive has only amplified public anxiety.
Migrant workers fear exclusion from voter rolls
Lakhs of migrant labourers from UP who work in Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata say the SIR process places them at risk of losing their voting rights. They fear they’ll be forced to travel home — at high cost, with loss of wages — to prove their identity for a procedure they barely understand. Many work on daily wages; a sudden trip home means losing income they cannot afford to lose.
