TN’s voters deleted in draft rolls scramble to save mandate

In Chennai, 9.7 million voters, including many first-time voters, face deletions from electoral rolls, raising concerns ahead of the 2024 elections.

37-year-old Chennai resident V Lokpria is among the 9.7 million people whose names were deleted from the draft electoral rolls released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on December 19.

TN’s voters deleted in draft rolls scramble to save mandate

“Since I was 18 I have been voting in the same booth, same house address but when I went to vote in the 2024 general elections, my name alone was missing from the list,” says Lokpria, who lives in Chennai’s Mogappair.

The highest percentage of deletions were from Chennai itself, where roughly 35.6% of the four million-strong electorate is in danger of being removed from the rolls. In the second phase of SIR, when claims and objections can be filed between 19th December and 18th January 2026, Lokpria’s booth level officer (BLO) told her that her name was possibly not included because she hadn’t voted in 2024 and asked her to submit an application for a fresh voter ID card.

The ECI conducted a weekend camp across Tamil Nadu to help more people to be included. During the December 27-28 weekend, more than 7.1 lakh people submitted forms to be included and to make changes. Those whose names were not included as well as newly eligible voters submitted Form 6, request for deletion or objection was filed under Form 7 and electors who shifted their residences and need to make corrections in existing entries applied under Form 8.

P Sekharan, a resident association leader, at a special camp held in collected four sets of the application (Form 6). Though Sekaran’s name figures on the list, he’s been helping voters whose names have been excluded. “Four of my neighbours who shifted from Pallavaram have lost their votes here,” says Sekharan. At this polling booth, Prince Matriculation School under the Shollinganallur assembly constituency in Chengalpattu, election officials say that there are several deletions due to absentees. The BLO here, a conservancy staff with the municipal corporation, Ramya gives an indication of that. “I’m in-charge of 1020 votes and 850 voters names have been included,” says Ramya adding that several first time voters in the age of 18-19 have been submitting forms during the second phase. “Except for those who have shifted homes, it’s not a problem for the rest of us. Almost everyone’s name has been included,” says Shekaran.

That was the case voters, BLOs and booth level agents (BLAs) of political parties said in other polling booths in Chengalpattu, Chennai and other constituencies that saw massive deletions such as Tirupur, Coimbatore. And even in minority dominated constituencies.

HT also traced a few voters who were doubtful of their names being included during the first phase when they submitted their enumeration forms but found no hassle. “All six members from my family are in the list,” said K Nagarajan, a retired real estate manager in Chennai’s Velachery constituency. Nagarajan’s daughters by law M Tamilselvi and S Subhashini are both from neighbouring Karnataka’s Bengaluru and have been voting in Chennai for close to a decade. Tamilselvi’s parents died five years ago in Bengaluru. But BLOs had warned him that his two daughters by law may be disenfranchised because they weren’t able to provide details from the previous SIR exercise from 2005 and their parents’ documents. “They gave us such a scare and we lost hope but we are relieved now,” said Nagarajan.

However, large-scale deletions have occurred in places where migrants reside. In upscale Anna Nagar, in the heart of Chennai, the election office said there were abnormally high deletions in the Jaigopal Garodia Vivkenananda polling booth. “In one of the divisions in the polling booth where 847 voters were registered, more than 600 have been deleted,” said the supervisor for the booth S Saravanan. He attributed the deletions to house demolitions, and several guest labourers who work for the Integral Coach Factory-ICF in Anna Nagar and for the railways coach manufacturing unit in nearby Perambur. The BLOs here had gone around the residences during the weekend to announce in mics that special camps were being conducted for voters to be included. “More than 50% of the voters in this booth have been deleted but only 10% have showed up so far to file claims.” In other polling booths in Anna Nagar, several first time and second time voters have been missed out, says DMK’s BLA Dhankalakshmi. “We submitted their enumeration forms and all the documents. But, at least 20 voters who voted in 2024 are missing from the list and the BLOs are also looking into it,” said Dhanalakshmi.

In Tirunelveli district, at booth number 215, as many as 80% are minorities which includes 70% Muslims, 20% Christians and the remaining Hindus.

“All of them are in the list,” said P Chandirasekhar, the BLA here from the ruling DMK party. The DMK has been extremely active in the SIR exercise to ensure no names are missed on the instructions of Chief minister and DMK president M K Stalin who has called this a conspiracy of the BJP to delete women and minority votes to help their alliance led by the opposition AIADMK to win. The DMK BLA said that except for the 68 who were dead, 10 double entries and the remaining who shifted, no genuine voter was left out at his polling station. His colleagues in other parts of Tirunelveli including a BLA-2 Perumal Srinivasan, Prabhu in Nagercoil where Hindus constitute 60% followed by Christians (30%), and 10% Muslims. “We have made sure not a single vote goes missing.”