Tamil Nadu Voter List Purge: 97 Lakh Names Deleted in SIR Phase 1

Election Commission Cleanup: Over 15% of Tamil Nadu Electors Removed Ahead of Assembly Polls

Also Read | Rajasthan Board Exam 2026 schedule released; 10th-12th exams to begin February 12

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• The “Chennai Shock”: 14 Lakh Voters Dropped in the State Capital

• Dead, Shifted, or Duplicate? Breaking Down the 97.37 Lakh Deletions

• Political Fallout: DMK and TVK Slam the Move While AIADM Backs the Purge

• The “Claims and Objections” Window: How to Get Your Name Back by January 18

• Beyond Tamil Nadu: Massive Voter Roll Revisions in Gujarat and West Bengal

Tamil Nadu’s political landscape just got a massive shock. The thing is, the Election Commission (EC) has wiped over 97.37 lakh names off the voter rolls following its latest Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

Actually, the state’s voter base has shrunk from 6.41 crore to just 5.43 crore. Specifically, it’s the biggest “cleanup” in the country so far. As a result, roughly 15% of the entire electorate has vanished from the draft list (let’s be real, that’s enough to swing an entire election).

Also Read | Rajasthan Board Exam 2026 schedule released; 10th-12th exams to begin February 12

And here’s the kicker. The city of Chennai saw an almost unbelievable 35% of its voters removed.

Basically, 14.25 lakh names were dropped in the capital alone. Instead of a slow update, the EC found that over 12 lakh people in Chennai had shifted residences or were missing, while another 1.56 lakh were listed as deceased. In fact, Coimbatore and Tiruppur weren’t far behind, seeing deletions of 20% to 25% of their total voters. And then Y followed. The total count of “shifted or absent” voters across the state stands at a staggering 66.44 lakh.

[Table: Tamil Nadu SIR Deletion Breakdown (Draft Roll – Dec 19, 2025)]

Moreover, the political heat is rising fast. Specifically, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has labeled the move a “planned strategy” to remove legitimate voters, comparing it to previous revisions in Bihar.

Also Read | Rajasthan Board Exam 2026 schedule released; 10th-12th exams to begin February 12

Actually, actor-politician Vijay’s TVK has also joined the chorus of opposition, calling the scale of deletions “unprecedented.” As a result, the ruling coalition is deploying booth-level agents to verify every single name.

Consequently, the AIADMK has taken the opposite stance, with EPS backing the EC and claiming the revision was necessary to remove “duplicate voters” (those too).

The thing is, the door isn’t completely closed yet. In fact, the EC has opened a window for “claims and objections” that lasts until January 18, 2026.

Basically, if your name was deleted but you still live at the same address, you need to file Form 6 immediately. Instead of waiting for a knock on the door, you can check your status on the erolls.tn.gov.in website or the Voter Helpline App.

The final, cleaned-up electoral roll will be published on February 17, 2026, which will be the definitive list for the upcoming Assembly battle…

Also Read | Rajasthan Board Exam 2026 schedule released; 10th-12th exams to begin February 12

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