Chandigarh has published its final electoral roll under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), 2026, and the numbers tell a story that runs opposite to what several other states have reported this year. The Union Territory added a net 9,927 electors — a 2.20 per cent increase — taking its total voter count to 4,60,209.
In simple terms, more voters were added than removed in Chandigarh. That matters because during this year's SIR, several other states largely reported deletions. Chandigarh's result goes the other way.
Why Chandigarh's Voter Roll Grew Instead of Shrinking
Officials in Chandigarh attributed the net addition to a controlled and closely monitored roll-mapping process. According to the original report, this process added new and shifted voters even as it weeded out ineligible entries. So the roll was cleaned up, but the cleanup did not outweigh the additions.
Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav, who is also Additional Chief Electoral Officer and District Election Officer, told The Tribune that the administration had ensured no prominent citizen — from politics, judiciary, armed forces or other fields — was deleted from the rolls.
No Big Names Deleted, Unlike in Delhi
The headline comparison here is with Delhi, where the SIR exercise saw notable names removed from the voter list. Chandigarh's administration has drawn a clear line between the two outcomes. The Deputy Commissioner's statement makes the position plain: the exercise in Chandigarh did not touch prominent citizens.
- Net addition: 9,927 electors
- Growth rate: 2.20 per cent
- Final total: 4,60,209 voters
- No deletions among prominent citizens from politics, judiciary or armed forces
- Roll-mapping described as controlled and closely monitored
What This Means for Chandigarh Voters
For ordinary voters in Chandigarh, the practical takeaway is that the final roll is now out. If your name was added during the revision, it should appear in the published list. If you had shifted addresses, the roll-mapping process was meant to capture that shift.
The bigger political point is the contrast with Delhi. When voter lists shrink in one place and grow in another under the same national exercise, questions naturally follow about how the process is being run in different regions. Chandigarh's officials are presenting their version as the careful one — additions and deletions both handled under close watch.
Our Take: A Clean Roll Needs Both Additions and Deletions Done Right
In our view, the Chandigarh result is worth noting for one reason: it shows that an SIR does not have to end in a net loss of voters. A revision is supposed to make the roll accurate — adding those who should be there and removing those who should not. If Chandigarh added more than it removed while still weeding out ineligible entries, that is the exercise working as intended.
The claim that no prominent citizen was deleted is also significant. Voter roll revisions draw public suspicion when well-known names disappear, because it makes people wonder how many ordinary names vanished quietly. Chandigarh's administration is essentially saying that did not happen here.
To put it plainly, the real test is not the headline number. It is whether every eligible voter in Chandigarh can find their name on the final roll, and whether anyone wrongly removed can get back on. The 9,927 net addition is a good sign. The follow-through is what voters should watch.