Chennai: Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP P Chidambaram on Friday raised serious concerns over the Tamil Nadu electoral roll, highlighting that 66,44,881 electors have been listed without valid addresses in the draft voter list released by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

While accepting the removal of 26,32,672 deceased voters and 3,39,278 duplicate entries, Chidambaram said the scale of deletions linked to electors marked as shifted or absent from their residences required urgent scrutiny.

His remarks come in the wake of the Election Commission deleting over 66 lakh voters from the draft electoral rolls, citing reasons such as relocation or prolonged absence from registered addresses.

In a post on X, Chidambaram said the figures relating to deceased and duplicate voters were understandable, but the number of individuals listed without addresses was alarming.

“We can accept that the number of deceased persons removed from the voter list in Tamil Nadu is 26,32,672, and the number of individuals with duplicate entries is 3,39,278. The number of individuals without addresses 66,44,881, is what raises concerns,” he wrote.

The Congress leader urged political parties across the spectrum to closely examine the issue to ensure that no eligible voter is disenfranchised. “Comrades from all political parties must pay attention to this figure. It is astonishing that so many people have been or are without addresses. Our aim is that no genuine person should be removed from the voter list,” he added.

According to the draft electoral roll data, Chennai district recorded the highest number of deletions, with 14,25,018 electors removed. Of these, 12,49,691 voters were deleted after being categorised as having shifted residence or being absent.

The Election Commission of India on Friday released the draft electoral roll for Tamil Nadu after collecting 5,43,76,755 enumeration forms during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. A total of 97,37,831 electors were removed from the rolls across the state.

As per the SIR list, 26,94,672 electors were marked as deceased, 66,44,881 were classified as shifted or absent, and 3,98,278 were found to be enrolled at multiple locations.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) welcomed the draft list, pointing to what it described as a high number of deletions in Kolathur, the constituency of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan said the data offered insight into Chennai’s political landscape.

“I welcome this list and appreciate the work of the Election Commission and the political parties... The highest number of votes has been removed from the Chief Minister's constituency, Kolathur. So now we understand why Chennai was a DMK stronghold. This indirectly reveals how Chennai became a DMK stronghold,” she told ANI.

The final electoral roll for Tamil Nadu is scheduled to be published on February 2, 2026. The Special Intensive Revision has been undertaken five months ahead of the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, expected in April–May 2026.

Earlier, the Election Commission of India had extended the deadlines for the SIR exercise in five states, including Tamil Nadu, with the state’s enumeration period extended until December 14.

ANI