CHENNAI: Accusing the BJP and its ally, the AIADMK, of a ploy to secure victory by deleting the names of working-class people, scheduled castes, minorities, and women from electoral rolls through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin on Sunday said that such efforts would prove to be a grave miscalculation in Tamil Nadu.
He asserted that both parties lack the courage to face the people directly at the hustings and are instead seeking to win by depriving citizens of their fundamental democratic right to vote.
The DMK president, in a letter to party cadre, responded to the Election Commission of India’s announcement that the SIR of electoral rolls will begin in Tamil Nadu within a week.
Stalin said the DMK had already urged the ECI to reconsider the SIR and that the DMK has the strength to face any of their ‘anti-democratic’ activities.
The DMK president, without clarifying whether he continues to remain firm on his demand not to carry out the exercise in Tamil Nadu, said, “The DMK cadre must vigilantly monitor the SIR process that seeks to rob people of their voting rights.”
Stalin also said the AIADMK, having ‘mortgaged’ even its own party rights to the BJP, cannot be expected to defend the rights of people. The duty to protect those rights at every polling booth rests with DMK members and the DMK’s allies, he added.
The DMK chief also recalled that in Bihar, which is heading for the Assembly election, the ECI has deprived more than 65 lakh people of their voting rights.
The DMK and INDIA bloc parties have consistently warned that the BJP-led union government is attempting to use the ECI as its puppet to replicate this misuse in Tamil Nadu.
Stalin said the DMK government has been expeditiously undertaking relief work in rain-affected areas, and the paddy procurement has been going smoothly. Recalling the past, he said that in 1952, even when they were not in power and as an opposition party in 1978, and in 2018, the DMK had engaged in relief work when the state faced natural disasters.
“Contrary to this, the present leader of the opposition, Edappadi K Palaniswami, is looking for ‘harvesting’ political mileage even during the monsoon period instead of doing anything constructively for people.
“The AIADMK’s allegations about paddy procurement have all turned out to be empty sacks, as proved by the continued actions of our government. Brushing aside lies and slander, we shall continue to work for the people,” Stalin added.
The DMK president said a training programme will be organised for the party functionaries and cadre in Mamallapuram on October 28 to explain the works to be done ahead of the Assembly election.
“After this programme, all grassroots-level functionaries in every Assembly constituency should initiate ‘Yen vaakku chavadi - Vetri vakku chavadi’ to ensure the DMK’s victory in the election,” he added.
