The final electoral rolls for poll-bound Tamil Nadu were published on Monday following the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. The updated list was released by the state’s Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik, confirming that more than 74 lakh names have been deleted from the voter rolls.
Before the revision exercise, the total electorate in the state stood at 6.41 crore. After the SIR process, the number has dropped to 5.67 crore, reflecting a significant reduction in the voter base ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.
Apart from Tamil Nadu, Assembly elections are scheduled this summer in Kerala, West Bengal, Puducherry and Assam.
The ongoing SIR drive is the ninth nationwide revision of electoral rolls since Independence. The previous large-scale revision was conducted between 2002 and 2004. However, the current exercise has triggered political debate in several states, particularly in West Bengal.
A similar revision carried out in Bihar in July last year saw 69 lakh names removed and 21.5 lakh new voters added, highlighting the scale of scrutiny undertaken during the process.