CHENNAI/PUDUCHERRY: School Education Minister A Rajmohan said but for Special Intensive Revision (SIR), TVK would have won a majority of seats and formed the government on its own in the state. Reiterating the party’s opposition to SIR, the minister said on Tuesday the TVK would have won more seats, and it was because of the SIR that they fell short of the majority mark.
Meanwhile, reacting to Rajmohan’s statement on Monday claiming the demand for removal of chief election commissioner is a “diversionary tactic”, Congress leader Mohan Kumaramangalam, in a social media post said, “At times, it is better to remain silent than open your mouth and expose your ignorance.”
On the alleged differences in opinion between TVK and Congress with regard to the removal of the CEC, Rajmohan claimed there was no difference and the two parties are like double-barreled gun. “When I said the demand for removal of the CEC was a diversionary tactic, I did not mean Congress.
He (Mohan Kumaramangalam) is our brother,” Rajmohan said, adding the two parties are united in their opposition to the SIR. “Our stand is the same as that of our alliance. We have been opposing the SIR from day one,” Rajmohan said.
He further claimed that the SIR had affected TVK’s electoral prospects. “More Rajmohans would have won. SIR itself is a big scam,” he said.
Meanwhile, TVK ally VCK’s general secretary and Villupuram MP D Ravikumar said the DMK camp lost the 2026 assembly election due to SIR. Speaking to reporters at Puducherry, he said TVK didn’t win because of SIR and they got their share of vote properly. The DMK alliance didn’t get their share of vote as many were removed from the voters list during SIR.
“SIR is the reason for the DMK alliance losing in many places,” the VCK leader said, adding the SIR could have contributed to the electoral outcome not only in Tamil Nadu, but also in Kerala and West Bengal, where parties opposed to the BJP lost power. He said that the DMK-led alliance failed to get its expected share as names of several voters supporting the alliance had been deleted from the electoral rolls during the SIR.
“The votes of TVK could have come to TVK, but the votes of DMK have been removed in a lot of places because of SIR,” he added. On the demand for the resignation of the CEC, Ravikumar said the INDIA bloc would soon announce its stand and the TVK would subsequently make its position known.