COIMBATORE: About 4,379 duplicate voters were identified in Chief Minsiter M K Stalin’s Kolathur constituency alone, alleged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday, asserting that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is aimed at removing such fake entries.
“Can we claim that Stalin won the election using these bogus voters in his Kolathur constituency? Should these irregularities not be removed,” she asked.
Addressing reporters in Coimbatore, she said, “In booth number 157, the name of one Rafiullah appears in three places with three different EPIC numbers. Roughly 9,133 voters are registered with fake addresses in Kolathur constituency.
Similarly, 30 voter IDs are registered at a single address (house number 11, booth number 84) and 62 voters (IDs) from different religions and castes are listed at one address (house number 20, booth number 187). Similarly, 80 voters of various religions are registered at a single house (house number 10, booth number 140).
Upon verification, it shows they live at different addresses. In total, 5,964 mixed households — voters with no relation to each other — are falsely registered in the same address in the constituency. If there is so much duplication in just one constituency, should not these irregularities be removed and the system reformed?” Sitharaman questioned.
Responding to Stalin’s claim that the SIR was a conspiracy, she said the former has described SIR as an act of disenfranchisement, while Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin is speaking without even knowing what SIR means. The constitution mandates the Election Commission of India (ECI) to conduct SIR before every election. But it is unclear why the DMK is protesting against it, she remarked.
She further questioned why the DMK did not oppose the SIR when it was conducted 13 times earlier, and accused the party of taking such a stance to hide the failures of its rule in Tamil Nadu and to divert people’s attention from real issues.
“It has been their habit to allege misuse of EVMs only when opposition parties or the BJP win elections, and to claim that central investigation agencies are being used to intimidate,” she said.
Further, she assured that no one’s voting right will be taken away. “But if someone has no documents, legal action will be taken by ECI.”
PMK alleges DMK cadre illegally involved in poll roll revision exercise
Chennai: Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader Anbumani Ramadoss has alleged that members of the ruling DMK were directly involved in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across TN, a task legally assigned to government officials.
In a statement on Tuesday, Anbumani said that instead of designated booth-level officers, DMK’s IT wing members and youth wing functionaries were visiting households, distributing and collecting voter data forms only to party supporters and avoiding others.
Anbumani further pointed out that while the DMK government claims to support a clean and transparent electoral process, its own cadre are engaging in activities that undermine the credibility of the system. He urged the ECI to appoint IAS officers from other states as observers in every Assembly seat to ensure impartial supervision of the SIR.
