Daijiworld Media Network - Chennai
Chennai, Jan 1: The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu has seen extensive participation from both political parties and voters, with more than 7.3 lakh claims and objections submitted during the ongoing review process, senior election officials said on Thursday. The exercise, being conducted from December 19, 2025 to January 18, 2026, is aimed at ensuring an accurate and comprehensive voters’ list ahead of the next Assembly elections.
Data released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) highlights a strong level of public engagement, reflecting heightened awareness about electoral rights and responsibilities. The window for filing claims and objections remained open until 8 p.m. on December 31, during which recognised political parties submitted a total of 2,72,148 representations through their Booth Level Agents (BLAs).
Among national parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led the submissions with 61,438 claims, along with 20 applications for inclusion and one request for deletion. The Congress followed with 30,592 claims, while the Communist Party of India (Marxist) submitted 3,719 claims. Smaller national parties also participated, with the Aam Aadmi Party filing 64 claims, the Bahujan Samaj Party 125, and the National People’s Party 57.
State-level parties were equally active in the revision process. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) topped the list with 68,260 claims, closely followed by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), which submitted 67,286 claims, including 24 requests for inclusion and 63 objections seeking deletion. The Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) filed 36,375 claims, while the Communist Party of India (CPI), Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), and Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) submitted 1,442, 245, and 2,545 claims respectively.
Apart from political party submissions, individual voters also actively took part in the SIR exercise. Election authorities received 7,35,191 applications for inclusion of names through Form-6 and Form-6A, and 9,505 applications seeking deletion of names through Form-7 after the draft electoral roll was published.
Officials noted that no claims or objections were filed before the release of the draft roll and that no affidavits were submitted under Section 2(g) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. They clarified that only correctly filled forms accompanied by valid declarations would be considered. The final electoral roll, authorities said, will be published after completing the verification and scrutiny of all submissions.