CHENNAI: TVK general secretary N Anand and the party’s general secretary (election campaign management) Aadhav Arjuna on Sunday targeted the DMK heavily in the demonstration organised by the party in Chennai, as part of its state-wide protest against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
While actor and party president Vijay did not participate in the protest, the two top functionaries alleged that the DMK has hijacked the role of the booth-level officers (BLOs) in the SIR.
This was the party’s first public event after the stampede in Karur in September that killed 41 people.
A few party functionaries who spoke at the demonstration urged the ECI either to simplify the procedure or conduct a special summary revision of electoral rolls, as done in the past, ahead of the Assembly election next year.
Anand claimed that people were complaining that large chunks of names of voters whom the ruling party considers may not vote for the DMK are being deleted from the rolls.
“Snatching away the voting rights of people by claiming that they are dead or have shifted is a blatant violation of misuse of power. This shows that those in power are desperate to win the election through shortcut,” Anand alleged. He said allegations of DMK and BJP functionaries acting as BLOs should be checked.
Arjuna asked why the DMK government failed to adopt a resolution opposing the SIR.
“The DMK is deciding who should get the enumeration forms and who should not. Only the DMK cadre and supporters of the party are getting the enumeration forms. All opposition parties should thwart this and ensure that the enumeration forms reach all 6.41 crore voters and new voters,” he claimed.
Contrary to the previous demonstrations of the TVK, this time, it lasted for one and a half hours. In all, nine office-bearers of the TVK from various parts of Chennai spoke, and of them, five were women.