SIR: Tamil Nadu’s urban areas record higher reduction in number of voters than rural ones

Following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI), Urban Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu appear to have seen a significant reduction in the number of voters compared to rural seats in 2026.

A comparative study of the data of 30 selected Assembly constituencies in the state reveals that Thousand Lights, Velachery and T. Nagar, all in Chennai, are some of the districts that have experienced a decline of over 30% in the number of voters. Other urban seats that saw a significant decline include Coimbatore (South) (23.83%) and Kolathur (28.3%), represented by DMK leader and Chief Minister MK Stalin. One of the reasons commonly cited is the high prevalence of migration of people into cities and towns, a feature that is not as common in rural areas as in urban areas.

For the purpose of this study, Assembly constituency data dated January 5, 2025 and February 23, 2026 were taken into account. When SIR was launched in October last year, the state’s electorate had increased by nearly 5 lakh. In other words, the overall figure was around 6.41 billion, down from 6.36 billion when the special summary revision was completed in January 2025. Constituency-by-constituency data was taken into account only because it was publicly available, as in January 2025, while data from October 2025, when voter registration was temporarily frozen, was not taken into account. According to the research, the decrease in the number of voters in the 30 selected constituencies is 12.9% compared to 10.86% in the entire state.

Looking at the overall picture, there was a noticeable decline in urban constituencies in the northern and western regions, while a moderate decline was seen in urban constituencies in the central and southern regions. Minimum changes recorded by seats include Nagercoil, Madurai (East), Kilvelur and Dharmapuri. Of the seven selected constituencies reserved for Scheduled Castes, the general trend is that the reduction (from 7.5% in Srivilliputhur to 4.97% in Ottapidaram) is lower than the State average of 12.9%. The outlier is Gudiyatham in the northern belt, where the degree of reduction is 17.9%.