DMK’s legal wing secretary and Rajya Sabha member N.R. Elango, on Tuesday rejected former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s allegations that only DMK-appointed Booth Level Agents (BLA-2) were involved in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and that they alone had the enumeration forms.
Speaking to reporters, he said that political parties recognised by the Election Commission can nominate BLA-2s and that they may work together with Booth Level Officers. “The Election Commission itself has issued a notification clarifying that a BLA-2 may fill 50 applications per day and submit them,” Mr. Elango said.
He said the AIADMK had supported the SIR without understanding the problems, doing so merely to please the BJP. “After the commencement of the SIR, AIADMK party workers have realised that it could deprive voters of their right to franchise. They have now also realised that the party’s decision to support the SIR was wrong. Even a former AIADMK MLA has posted on his social media page that he was helped by a DMK BLA-2 to submit his form,” he said.
Responding to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s allegation that the DMK leadership had not requested a revision of the voters’ list until now, Mr. Elango said that DMK leader Karunanidhi (since deceased) had written to the Election Commission as early as February 2004 seeking a revision of the list. “DMK’s organisation secretary and district secretaries have written many letters to the Election Commission. It has been the DMK’s consistent stand that any person who is not qualified to be included in the voters’ list should not remain in it. It has also been urging the deletion of the names of the deceased, those with voting rights in two places, and those who have migrated,” he said.
Published – November 19, 2025 05:30 am IST
