The Election Commission of India (ECI) started defending its ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the Supreme Court on January 6, 2026. The Commission rejected claims that the SIR is a "parallel" National Register of Citizens (NRC), calling such allegations "rhetoric." Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, representing the ECI, said, "We have a constitutional duty, and not just a constitutional power, to ensure no foreigners are there on the electoral rolls." He added, "It is not important how many foreigners are found... Even if there was one foreigner, he had to be excluded." On the same day, the draft voter list of Uttar Pradesh was published, showing nearly three crore deletions from the previous 15.44 crore registered voters. The second phase of SIR has expanded to cover 12 more states and union territories after starting in Bihar last year. The ECI clarified that SIR is not a citizenship drive or a parallel NRC. Dwivedi explained the difference: "The NRC register includes all citizens, even those of unsound mind, whereas the electoral roll counts only those 18 years and above." The Commission emphasized that citizen verification is its constitutional duty under Article 324 of the Constitution. Citizenship is central to elections since only citizens can vote and hold public office. Dwivedi noted the Constituent Assembly intended citizenship checks in electoral roll preparation to exclude non-citizens. Addressing claims that citizenship is only the Union government’s domain, the ECI pointed to Section 9(2) of the Citizenship Act, explaining the Centre’s exclusive role lies only in terminating citizenship voluntarily acquired abroad. Dwivedi concluded that the ECI may deviate from standard procedures during revisions if reasons are recorded. For SIR 2025, reasons include rapid urbanisation and migration to maintain electoral roll purity.