The Election Commission has approved an extension of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Goa, setting February 21, as the date for final publication. In a February 11 communication to the Chief Electoral Officer in state, the Commission said it had accepted the state’s request after “taking all aspects into consideration.” The revision is being carried out with January 1, 2026 as the qualifying date.
This is the first formal extension granted to Goa during the current SIR cycle. The exercise began in late 2025 with house to house verification, followed by publication of the draft roll in December and a claims and objections window in January. During verification, nearly 90,000 names were flagged for deletion on grounds such as death, migration, duplication or non traceability, prompting calls for greater scrutiny before finalisation.
By contrast, other states have seen multiple extensions. Uttar Pradesh has received four extensions during its SIR process. West Bengal has been granted two extensions, while Tamil Nadu and Kerala have each received one extension. Compared to these states, Goa’s timeline revision remains limited to a single extension so far.
Chief minister Pramod Sawant said “the process must ensure that no genuine voter is excluded”. Goa Congress president Amit Patkar termed the deletion figures “concerning” and sought constituency-wise transparency, while AAP’s Goa president Valmiki Naik questioned whether adequate verification had been conducted.
Election officials maintained that “the SIR follows established procedure and that an appeal mechanism remains open”. With final publication now scheduled for February 21, Goa’s SIR enters its concluding phase amid political attention but without the multiple deadline revisions seen in larger states.
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