Malkangiri, the southernmost segment of the Odisha Assembly and home to a large number of Bangladeshi settlers, has recorded the highest number of voter deletions – 27,653 – from the electoral rolls after the first phase of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state. File | Photo credit: Hindu
Malkangiri, the southernmost segment of the Odisha Assembly and home to a large number of Bangladeshi settlers, has recorded the highest number of voter deletions – 27,653 – from the electoral rolls after the first phase of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state.
The removal amounted to 10.96% of the total number of voters. Before the SIR, Malkangiri had 2,52,147 electors. The constituency has voters who migrated from Bangladesh in the early 1950s and mid-1980s. The Odisha government then settled them by establishing special villages.
The names of more than 20,000 voters were removed from the draft SIR report released on July 5. Before the SIR, the total number of voters in Odisha was 3,33,99,591 which later came down to 3,13,87,034. Of the removed voters, 8.32 lakh or 2.49% died while 10.07 lakh voters (3.02%) were either absent or changed their residence.
As for the district, Ganjam, which sends the largest number of migrant workers to different parts of the country and abroad, has the highest number of exceptions with 2,07,626 voters, followed by Cuttack district with 1,55,164 voters.
There were nine such Assembly constituencies, each with more than 20,000 exceptions recorded. More than half of these assembly segments are known as migration-prone pockets. Of the 147 Assembly constituencies in 40 segments, more than 15,000 each were removed.
The Biju Janata Dal on Sunday (June 5, 2026) challenged the draft report of the first phase of the SIR. It said 27 lakh voters were removed from the electoral rolls instead of the stated 20 lakh. Congress has also expressed concern about the high number of removals.
Sushanta Kumar Mishra, additional chief electoral officer, said an anomaly was noticed in the first phase of SIR as names of deceased voters had to be deleted and 10.07 lakh voters were either absent or changed seats. “Anyone whose names are not included in the draft report will be given adequate opportunities to appeal,” he said.
Published – Jul 7, 2026 04:41 EST.