One Sunday evening I returned to my hometown of Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh after my end-semester exam at IIT Kanpur. The air felt uncharacteristically tense.

I soon realised that the anxiety was the result of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision process.

The Election Commission has said that this exercise, which is underway in 12 states and Union Territories , is necessary for accurate, fraud-free elections. In principle, it is a routine exercise, but it has caused anxiety in Barabanki, and, I suppose, other places too.

Our domestic worker said that in her locality, many believe that those who do not receive the SIR form will be sent to Bangladesh. WhatsApp forwards have caused a storm of confusion.

It isn’t just the marginalised who are uncertain about the intentions of the exer

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