About 1,640 people identified as foreign citizens were found on electoral rolls across six Indian states during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists, Hindustan Times reported, via Scroll.in. Karnataka accounted for the largest share, at 716.
The Election Commission cited the “inclusion of the names of foreign illegal immigrants” on voter lists as one reason for launching the SIR when the first phase began in June 2025. Hindustan Times sent queries to chief electoral officers across 26 states and Union Territories where the revision had been completed or draft rolls published.
Officials from 11 states and Union Territories responded. Six provided actual figures. Four said they did not keep such data, and Odisha said it had found such cases but had not recorded the number, according to the report.
What the six states reported
Karnataka’s poll officials identified 716 foreign citizens for removal, including 545 Nepalese citizens in Bengaluru North alone, the largest count of the six states. More than 99.3 lakh names in total were deleted from Karnataka’s final electoral roll.
| State | Foreign citizens identified | Total names deleted (final/draft roll) | Roll status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Karnataka | 716 (incl. 545 Nepalese in Bengaluru North) | 99.3 lakh+ | Final roll published |
| Kerala | ~500 | 8.9 lakh+ | Final roll published Feb 21 |
| Goa | 419 | 1.2 lakh+ | Final roll published Feb 21 |
| Jharkhand | 3 (all from Afghanistan) | 43.6 lakh+ | Draft published Aug 5; final due Nov 30 |
| Meghalaya | 2 (Nepalese origin) | 1.6 lakh+ | Final roll published Oct 26 |
| Mizoram | 0 | ~39,000 | Final roll published Sep 7 |
Kerala poll officials said around 500 people with foreign citizenship were found on the rolls, with more than 8.9 lakh names deleted from the state’s final list. Goa’s Chief Electoral Officer, Sanjay Goel, said 419 foreign passport holders were found, out of more than 1.2 lakh names deleted from the state’s final list.
Jharkhand’s poll officials identified only 3 foreign citizens, all from Afghanistan, even as more than 43.6 lakh names were deleted from the state’s draft list published August 5. The state’s final list is due November 30. Meghalaya’s Chief Electoral Officer, BDR Tiwari, said 2 men of Nepalese origin, both married to Indian women, were identified, out of more than 1.6 lakh names deleted from the state’s final list published October 26.
Mizoram’s Chief Electoral Officer reported no cases of foreign citizens on the rolls at all, even as about 39,000 names were deleted from the state’s final roll published September 7.
Why the national picture stays incomplete
The Election Commission told Hindustan Times, via Scroll.in, that it had never asked states to separately collect data on foreign citizens found during SIR. An official said there is no combined or state-wise figure, and that such cases were folded into the broader “Others” category under ASDDO, the Commission’s shorthand for Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate and Others.
That means the six-state total of roughly 1,640 is almost certainly a partial count, drawn only from the states whose officials chose to respond with a number. Twenty of the 26 states and Union Territories queried did not provide one.
What the Supreme Court has said about SIR
The Supreme Court upheld the legality of the SIR exercise in May 2026. At the same time, the court said the Election Commission does not have the power to decide whether a person is an Indian citizen, a question that falls outside the scope of an electoral roll revision.
SIR began in Bihar in 2025 and was extended to 12 more states and Union Territories in a second phase through late 2025 and the first half of 2026. The exercise asks every elector to re-verify their enrolment documents, and officials strike off names that cannot be confirmed as absent, shifted, dead, duplicate, or otherwise ineligible.
The deletions reported across the six states run far higher than the foreign-citizen figures by themselves. Karnataka alone removed more than 99.3 lakh names in its final roll, a figure that includes the 716 foreign citizens but is overwhelmingly made up of the other ASDDO categories, such as electors who have died, moved, or appear more than once on the rolls.
Frequently asked questions
How many foreign citizens were found on voter rolls during SIR?
About 1,640 across the six states that gave Hindustan Times a figure, led by Karnataka’s 716. Twenty other states and Union Territories queried did not provide a number.
Does the Election Commission keep a national count?
No. The Commission told Hindustan Times it never asked states to collect this data separately, and such cases sit inside the broader “Others” category of its ASDDO classification.
Can the Election Commission decide someone’s citizenship during SIR?
No. The Supreme Court’s May 2026 ruling upheld SIR’s legality but said citizenship determination is not within the Commission’s power.
Leave a Reply