More than 74 million voters are missing from electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu, a citizens’ collective says

Political economist Parakala Prabhakar at a press conference in Chennai on Tuesday. Carnatic singer TM Krishna and IYCC co-organizer Radhika Ganesh are also seen. | Photo credit: R. RAGU

The Independent Young Citizens Collective (IYCC) said 74.07 million voters had been removed from the electoral rolls of Tamil Nadu and demanded an inquiry into the alleged deletions.

Announcing a rally for Anna Salai on November 26, as part of a nationwide day of action against the Special Intensive Review (SIR) of electoral rolls, the collective said the reported erasure of such a large number of names raised serious questions about the exercise and its implications for democracy.

IYCC is part of “People Against SIR”, a national platform comprising mass organisations, social movements and individual activists, independent of political parties.

The collective released its statement at a press conference at the Chennai Press Club on Tuesday. Among those who spoke at the meeting were political economist Parakala Prabhakar; Carnatic singer, writer and Ramona Magsaysay awardee TM Krishna; former All India Bank Officers’ Confederation General Secretary Thomas Franco; and cultural-political activist and IYCC co-organizer Radhika Ganesh.

Ms. Radhika Ganesh alleged that the SIR was a BJP-RSS project with no constitutional basis and alleged that it led to the elimination of 74.07 lakh voters, which is around 11.5% of the state’s electorate. She described the deletion as a democratic crisis and sought answers from the Election Commission of India, accountability from the Union government and a clear response from political parties in Tamil Nadu.

Mr. Prabhakar called for the cancellation of SIR and restoration of all eligible voters whose names were deleted. He also asked that the elections conducted using electoral rolls prepared through the SIR be annulled.

He sought to repeal the 2023 law that guarantees immunity to election commissioners and demanded changes to the process of appointing them, including ending the executive’s 2:1 majority on the selection board. He further demanded that the upcoming elections be conducted using the 2024 electoral rolls rather than the SIR rolls.

Mr. Krishna alleged that the revision exercise was designed to create confusion and alienate voters. He questioned the electoral commission’s procedure and the absence of a significant political response to the exercise.

Criticizing the form of the census and the requirement for voters to provide details relating to the 2002 electoral rolls, he said the exercise placed an undue burden on ordinary citizens, many of whom may not remember their polling stations or other details from more than two decades ago.

He also claimed that the exercise appears to focus more on identifying voters for deletion than ensuring the inclusion of every eligible citizen. He questioned the reliance on electoral rolls from 2002, when many voters participated in subsequent elections.

Mr Krishna said the erasure had not received adequate political or public attention. He termed it a black mark for the state and questioned the failure of political parties to raise the issue as a matter of democratic concern.

Published – 10 Nov 2026 23:45 IST