Tamil Nadu SIR: 1,857 Dalit voters removed from electoral rolls in Manjolai

In Manjolai, a hill hamlet under the Ambasamudram Assembly constituency in Tirunelveli district, the Election Commission of India has removed 1,857 voters from the electoral rolls during the recent Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

According to official records, Manjolai earlier had 1,906 registered voters. After the revision, only 49 names remain, with election officials categorising the rest as residents who have permanently migrated out of the area.

A ground-level investigation by South First, however, contradicts this claim. Residents assert that Manjolai continues to be their permanent place of residence, even though many have temporarily relocated to the plains for work after the shutdown of the tea estate, which was the community’s primary source of livelihood.

Villagers told South First that they have not changed their permanent address and that their Aadhaar cards, ration cards, and earlier voter IDs all continue to reflect Manjolai as their place of residence. Temporary migration for survival, they argue, cannot legally or morally be treated as permanent relocation.

Residents have questioned the basis on which their voting rights were withdrawn, pointing out that no individual applications were submitted seeking deletion or transfer of votes. They warn that the mass removal of voters has effectively disenfranchised an entire Dalit community that has lived and voted in Manjolai for generations.

The deletions, they say, raise serious concerns about electoral fairness, procedural transparency, and the right to vote, especially for marginalised communities dependent on seasonal or migratory labour.