Chennai, Dec. 31 -- 37-year-old Chennai resident V Lokpria is among the 9.7 million people whose names were deleted from the draft electoral rolls released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on December 19.

"Since I was 18 I have been voting in the same booth, same house address but when I went to vote in the 2024 general elections, my name alone was missing from the list," says Lokpria, who lives in Chennai's Mogappair.

The highest percentage of deletions were from Chennai itself, where roughly 35.6% of the four million-strong electorate is in danger of being removed from the rolls. In the second phase of SIR, when claims and objections can be filed between 19th December and 18th January 2026, Lokpria's booth level officer (BLO)...