Chennai
oi-Ashish Rana
The controversy over voter deletions during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has gained a new dimension in Tamil Nadu after constituency-level data revealed an unusual pattern in the 2026 Assembly election.
Tamil Nadu’s 2026 election results reveal a correlation between TVK’s victories and constituencies with high voter deletions during the SIR, though experts and parties dispute whether deletions influenced the outcome.
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), led by Chief Minister and party chief C Joseph Vijay, performed particularly strongly in constituencies where larger numbers of voters were removed from the electoral rolls. However, the data by itself does not establish that the deletions helped the party win.
TVK’s performance changed as deletions increased
Tamil Nadu has 234 Assembly constituencies. In 19 seats where the voter count fell by up to 10,000 after the SIR exercise, TVK managed to win only two. The DMK won seven, AIADMK six and other parties four.
The picture was different in constituencies with larger reductions. TVK won 22 of the 80 seats where deletions ranged from 10,000 to 20,000.
Its tally increased to 32 victories among 66 constituencies that recorded between 20,000 and 30,000 deletions. In the 30,000 to 50,000 category, TVK won 24 of 37 seats.
The trend became even more pronounced in constituencies with the highest reductions.
All 10 seats with over 80,000 deletions went to TVK
Of the 22 constituencies where deletions were between 50,000 and 80,000, TVK won 18. The DMK secured three and AIADMK one.
The most striking figure came from the 10 constituencies that recorded more than 80,000 deletions. TVK won every one of them.
The findings have attracted attention after DMK president and former Chief Minister MK Stalin said the deletion of several lakh voters was among the reasons for his party’s defeat in the election.
The figures have also triggered discussion on social media over whether the voter deletions could have influenced the result.
Experts caution against connecting deletions with votes
Political commentator and economist Parakala Prabhakar said it would be impossible to determine which party the deleted voters would have supported.
“Logically speaking, we cannot for sure say that the deleted voters would have voted for a particular party,” he said, arguing that the fundamental concern should be whether any eligible voter was removed from the electoral roll.
Political analyst Badri Seshadri also rejected the suggestion that voters could have been selectively removed on the basis of political preference.
“I don’t believe it is possible to selectively delete voters of one political party. There is no scientific basis on which it can even be brought up,” he said.
DMK alleges targeting, TVK rejects the claim
DMK MP P Wilson alleged that the exercise specifically affected DMK supporters. “They wanted to eliminate the DMK from the frame. This is a complete conspiracy of the Election Commission of India,” he said.
TVK national spokesperson Vivek Gananathan disagreed with that interpretation. He described the relationship between voter deletions and TVK’s victories as “just a coincidental reading or an incidental truth, but not the actual reality”.
He said both the DMK and AIADMK had lost traditional supporters to TVK as voters became dissatisfied with their leadership.
The data shows a strong statistical pattern, but experts and political parties remain divided over what that pattern actually means. A correlation between voter deletions and election results, on its own, does not prove that the deletions determined the outcome.
