Chennai: Shortly after the Election Commission of India announced the rollout of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in 12 States / UT on Monday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin declared, “We will resist disenfranchisement and defeat #VoteTheft”. The DMK and its allies will hold a meeting on November 2 in this connection.
The AIADMK and BJP, however, backed the SIR exercise and accused the DMK of trying to divert the issue.
“To carry out Special Intensive Revision just months before the election, and especially during the monsoon months of November and December, brings serious practical difficulties. To conduct SIR in a hasty and opaque manner is nothing but a conspiracy by the ECI to rob citizens of their rights and help the BJP,” Stalin said.
“In Bihar, large numbers of women, minorities and people from SC and ST communities were removed from the electoral rolls, and the absence of transparency has fuelled serious suspicion in the public mind. Now the ECI has announced that #SIR will begin in Tamil Nadu from next week. Following the announcement, we held discussions with our alliance partners, and on that basis an all party meeting will be convened on 2 November to decide the next course of action,” he announced on a post on X.
“The right to vote is the foundation of democracy. Tamil Nadu will fight against any attempt to murder it, and Tamil Nadu will win,” he added.
Earlier the DMK and its allies after a meeting at the party headquarters Anna Arivalayam, issued a statement saying: “Our next course of action will be decided based on the suggestions, recommendations and demands made by the political parties attending the meeting. All political parties should come together, keeping in mind the people’s rights, democracy, and the future of Tamil Nadu.”
