CHENNAI: Pointing to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar that stripped citizens of their voting rights and the alleged ‘vote theft’ in favour of the BJP, a meeting of DMK district secretaries adopted a resolution condemning the BJP-led union government and the ‘partiality’ of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The meeting was held at the party headquarters, Anna Arivalayam, on Wednesday to discuss the ‘Oraniyil Tamil Nadu’, the membership drive initiative of the party.
The party’s IT wing secretary and minister, TRB Rajaa, gave a presentation detailing the members added across the state. Legal wing secretary NR Elango also gave a presentation explaining what happened in the SIR process in Bihar and the “vote theft” irregularities in the electoral roll.
Another resolution accused the ECI of colluding with the union government and turning democracy into a mockery. The resolution also underscored the five demands presented by the DMK to the ECI last July, which included a procedure for greater coordination between block-level officers and block-level agents of political parties, deletion of deceased persons from the electoral roll, and acceptance of Aadhaar card and ration card as proof of identity for a voter.
The resolution also urged the ECI to ensure that the electoral roll is verified in a free and fair manner before the commencement of the election process in Tamil Nadu and other states.
Speaking about the SIR in Bihar, Chief Minister MK Stalin said, “The booth level committees (BLC) of our party must be strong. Special attention should be given to this. Every member of BLC should cover 100 voters. I will directly monitor the formation and functioning of BLCs.”
According to sources, Stalin also informed the district secretaries about his planned visit to the UK and Germany next month to attract investments. TNIE had reported this on Monday.
Stalin is said to have remarked, “Many of you ask why I don’t rest. I will neither rest, nor allow you (the party leaders) to rest. Our hard work is the stepping stone to our goal of victory in 2026.”
Later, speaking to reporters, Elango said, “The whole country is witnessing what has happened in Bihar SIR. About 65 lakh people lost their voting rights. But the ECI is not giving us a proper explanation. DMK, as part of the INDIA bloc, will continue its protest against the ECI. If such a revision happens in Tamil Nadu, we are ready to face it legally and politically. We consider it is the duty of the DMK to ensure such irregularities do not happen here.”