Election officials in Kerala are hopeful of completing the hearings being held as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll by February 12, 2026.
So far, hearings have been completed in four of the 140 Assembly constituencies in the State. Kuttanad in Alappuzha district became the first Assembly constituency where the hearings had been completed, Chief Electoral Officer (Kerala) Rathan U. Kelkar said on Wednesday. In Kuttanad, 14,233 voters had been issued notices to appear for the hearings. The process had been completed in Aruvikkara (23,427 notices), Vaikom (19,518) and Kunnathunad (26,688) constituencies as well, Mr. Kelkar said.
As per the original schedule announced by the Election Commission of India, February 14 is the deadline for the hearing and verification phase. The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on February 21.
On Wednesday, Mr. Kelkar held a videoconference with election officials where he congratulated the Electoral Registration Officers (ERO) and assistant EROs of Kuttanad, Vaikom, Kunnathunad and Aruvikkara.
Mr. Kelkar expressed the hope that hearings can be completed across Kerala by February 12 with the cooperation of the public, election officials and the political parties.
Meanwhile, political protests have been continuing in the State alleging problems in the conduct of the SIR. On February 2, the ruling Left Democratic Front had taken out protest marches to the offices of the Kerala CEO and district-level election offices seeking transparency in the process.
Published – February 04, 2026 05:10 pm IST
