Tamil Nadu Left parties intensify protests over alleged deletion of 13 crore voters, seek CEC’s removal

Left parties stepped up protests across Tamil Nadu on Thursday, demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over allegations that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has resulted in the deletion of more than 13 crore voter names.

The CPI(M), CPI and CPI(ML) Liberation had announced statewide demonstrations for October 1, alleging that objections raised within the Election Commission were ignored during the revision process.

Addressing protests in Chennai, CPI(M) state secretary P Shanmugam accused the Election Commission of using the SIR exercise to selectively remove voters and demanded Kumar’s immediate resignation or removal. Other Left leaders called for the SIR to be halted, allegedly deleted names to be restored and the process for appointing Election Commissioners to be changed.

CPI(M) Politburo member Vasuki and CPI state secretary Veerapandian also criticised the Centre and the Election Commission, while urging other non-INDIA parties to join the protests. Their allegations about the EC favouring a particular political party are contested and have not been established as facts.

The protests were held at multiple locations, including Washermanpet, Nungambakkam and K K Nagar. SFI also organised demonstrations at educational institutions across the state.

Fresh update: The protests come amid a wider escalation over the SIR issue. Opposition parties have announced a coordinated nationwide campaign from October 2, including rallies and district-level demonstrations, while the Election Commission has said its voter-roll processes follow legal procedures. The EC has also initiated a review of its voter-roll software following concerns raised over the revision process.

Tamil Nadu's own 2026 SIR had earlier resulted in nearly 70 lakh names being deleted from the final electoral roll, while more than 27 lakh new voters were added.