Akhilesh, Owaisi: SIR is NRC; Know the real differences.

• Akhilesh Yadav and Asaduddin Owaisi criticized the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists, alleging it is a covert National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise.
• SIR is an Election Commission campaign to purify, update, and ensure error-free voter lists through house-to-house verification, removing bogus voters and adding new ones.
• NRC is an official list of India's legal citizens, primarily aimed at identifying illegal immigrants, with its roots in Assam and a focus on proving citizenship based on historical documents.
• The article clarifies SIR purifies voter lists (citizenship remains), while NRC determines citizenship (exclusion can lead to loss of citizenship).
• SIR is conducted by the Election Commission, requiring residency proof; NRC is overseen by the central government, requiring ancestral/legacy documents.

Why It Matters: Clarifies SIR vs. NRC, explaining their distinct impacts on voting rights and citizenship.