Odisha SIR: Malkangiri records 27,653 disposals, highest in state & more related news here

Malkangiri, the southernmost Assembly segment in Odisha and with a large number of Bangladeshi settlers, has recorded the highest number of voter deletions (27,653) from the electoral roll after the first phase of the special intensive review (SIR) in the state.

The elimination constituted 10.96% of the total voters. Before SIR, Malkangiri had 2,52,147 voters. The constituency has voters who had emigrated from Bangladesh in the early 1950s and mid-1980s. Then the Odisha government resolved them by establishing special villages.

The names of more than 20 lakh voters were redacted in the draft SIR report released on July 5. Before SIR, the total number of electors of Odisha was 3,33,99,591, which came down to 3,13,87,034. Of the removed voters, 8.32 lakh or 2.49% had died, while 10.07 lakh voters (3.02%) were absent or had changed.

At the district level, Ganjam, which sends the highest number of migrant workers to different parts of the country and abroad, has the highest disposal of 2,07,626 voters, followed by Cuttack district with 1,55,164.

There were nine Assembly constituencies that recorded more than 20,000 eliminations each. More than half of these assembly segments are known as migration-prone pockets. Of the total 147 Assembly constituencies, 40 segments had eliminations of more than 15,000 each.

The Biju Janata Dal on Sunday (June 5, 2026) challenged the draft report of the first phase of the SIR. He said 27 lakh voters were removed from the electoral roll, against the alleged exclusion of 20 lakh. Congress also expressed concern about the large number of deletions.

Sushanta Kumar Mishra, additional chief electoral officer, said an anomaly was noticed in the first phase of SIR as the names of electors who had died had to be deleted while 10.07 lakh voters were absent or had changed. “All those whose names did not find a place in the draft report will be given adequate opportunities of appeal,” he said.