CHENNAI: The overall voter turnout across the 16 Assembly constituencies within the Greater Chennai Corporation limits surged sharply in the 2026 Assembly election, leaving poll pundits wondering about an urban awakening.
With the turnout touching 81.34 per cent, as against 59.40 per cent in the 2021 polls, people are looking at how the usually lazy urbanites, with poor regard for voting, suddenly started turning up at booths. Not just a few or pockets; across the assembly, seats crossed the 70% mark, with several breaching the 80% mark in the April 23 polls.
Several constituencies that recorded lower turnout in 2021 witnessed the sharpest increases in 2026. Villivakkam rose by over 28 percentage points, while Anna Nagar and Thousand Lights saw increases of over 20 percentage points each. Egmore and Thyagaraya Nagar also recorded steep gains compared to their 2021 figures.
A senior corporate official said that the polling percentage has increased following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which weeded out a large number of voters who shifted home, a phenomenon highly prevalent in urban areas. In the SIR process, the number of voters in the city has come down from 40.04 lakh to 28.30 lakh, which is an over 28 per cent reduction in the number of voters. “After the removal of the dead voters and double voters, the polling percentage has increased,” the official said.
Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar Assembly constituency recorded the highest turnout at 87.12%, followed by Perambur at 86.72%. Kolathur and Virugampakkam registered 83.84% each, while Villivakkam followed closely at 83.58%. Anna Nagar recorded 83.44%, Egmore 82.71%, and T Nagar 81.82%.
Among other constituencies, Chepauk-Triplicane recorded 81.89%, Thousand Lights 81%, and Harbour 80.61%. Royapuram and Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar registered 76.73% and 76.09%, respectively. In south Chennai, Saidapet and Mylapore recorded 75.92% each, while Velachery, the lowest in 2026, still posted a relatively high turnout of 72.79%.
In comparison, turnout in 2021 had remained subdued across the city. Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar had recorded the highest turnout at 66.57%, while Villivakkam was the lowest at 55.52%. Most constituencies were clustered in the 55%-62% range, including Egmore (55.29%), Anna Nagar (57.02%), Thousand Lights (58.4%), and Mylapore (56.69%).