UP Draft Voter List: Significant Variation in Names Removed, Lucknow Tops, Lalitpur Least Affected

Lucknow, January 9, 2026: The publication of the draft voter list following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Uttar Pradesh has revealed striking variations in the number of names removed across districts. According to figures released by the Election Commission, 18.70% of voters’ names have been removed statewide, but district-level data shows significant disparities.

Lalitulpur Least Affected
Bundelkhand’s Lalitpur recorded the lowest percentage of names removed, with 95,000 voters—just under 10% of the total—deleted from the draft list. Most districts in the state saw between 15% to 20% of voters removed.

Lucknow Sees Maximum Removals
In contrast, Lucknow tops the list, with over 30% of voters’ names removed. The district’s voter count fell from 3.994 million in the October 2025 list to 2.794 million after the SIR exercise, a reduction of nearly 1.2 million voters. Of these, 535,000 were reported to have permanently moved, 427,000 were absent or untraceable, and 128,000 were removed due to deaths.

Other Districts with High Removals
Prayagraj saw approximately 1.156 million names removed, roughly 25% of the total voters, including 488,000 who had permanently relocated. Kanpur Nagar had around 900,000 names removed (25%), while Ghaziabad accounted for 818,000 deletions (29%), including 63,000 deceased voters. Noida (Gautam Buddh Nagar) also recorded 447,000 names removed (24%), with about 18% missing or relocated voters. Agra witnessed 830,000 names removed (23%), while Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saw 573,000 deletions (18.18%).

Other notable figures include Gorakhpur, CM Yogi Adityanath’s stronghold, with 645,000 names removed (17.6%), and Congress bastions Raebareli and Amethi, where 348,000 (16.35%) and 267,000 (18.6%) names were deleted, respectively. Azamgarh saw 566,000 names removed (15.25%), while Kalyanpur, represented by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, had 278,000 deletions (21.5%).

Reasons for Removal
Election officials clarified that no names were arbitrarily removed by the Commission. The deletions primarily resulted from voters failing to submit SIR forms, shifting residence, being untraceable, or duplicate registrations. Lucknow’s high removals are partly attributed to its large urban population, with many individuals moving in or out, or having duplicate entries.

Next Steps for Voters
Voters whose names have been removed can now file objections or corrections. According to Ghaziabad DM Ravindra Kumar Mandar, citizens can submit Form-6 to register, or Form-8 to correct errors in the voter list. The Election Commission has allowed claims and objections until February 6, after which verified corrections will be reinstated in the voter list.