T.N. will fight any attempt to disenfranchise its people, says Chief Minister M.K. Stalin

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Monday said the right to vote was the foundation of democracy and that Tamil Nadu would fight against any attempt to murder it, and it would win.

In a message on X, titled ‘SIR in Tamil Nadu: We will resist disenfranchisement and defeat #VoteTheft’, the Chief Minister said carrying out the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls mere months before the election, and particularly during the monsoon months of November and December, would lead to serious practical difficulties. “To conduct the SIR in a hasty and opaque manner is nothing but a conspiracy by the Election Commission (EC) to rob citizens of their rights and help the BJP,” he contended.

Mr. Stalin alleged that in Bihar, large numbers of women, minorities, and people from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities were removed from the electoral rolls, and that the lack of transparency had fuelled serious suspicion in the public mind. “Now the EC has announced that the 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 November 2 to decide the next course of action,” he said.

Earlier in the day, a meeting chaired by Mr. Stalin at Anna Arivalayam, the DMK headquarters, requested leaders from all parties to take part in the meeting to be held on November 2, which will be held at Hotel Accord in Chennai.

“Our next course of action will be decided based on the suggestions, recommendations, and demands made by those attending the meeting. All political parties should come together, keeping in mind the people’s rights, democracy, and the future of Tamil Nadu,” said the DMK and its allies in a statement.

The parties alleged that the functioning of the EC was not only controversial but also suspicious. “Though it has been vested with the responsibility of conducting free and fair elections, in recent times it has issued orders on a whim, conducting elections in a questionable manner. This is evident from what happened in the Bihar election, where the SIR was used to remove genuine voters from the electoral roll,” the parties said.

The meeting was attended by Congress leader K.V. Thangkabalu, CPI(M) leader K. Balakrishnan, CPI secretary M. Veerapandian, and MDMK general secretary Vaiko, among others. The statement said lakhs of voters were removed and a few lakh were newly included in Bihar. “However, the Election Commission refused to comply with the order of the Supreme Court. It is the BJP government that instigated this anti-democratic act,” the leaders said.

Recalling the dates announced by the Chief Election Commissioner for the SIR in Tamil Nadu, they pointed out that it could not be carried out in November and December as those months coincide with the northeast monsoon.

The leaders said they were not against the SIR as such, but that it should not be conducted in a hasty manner.

“There should be adequate time, and it should be carried out without any practical difficulties. To begin the process now is not advisable, as the State is slated to go to poll in April. We also feel there may be a conspiracy to deny the people of Tamil Nadu their right to vote. Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan has complained that there was an attempt to remove 80,000 Muslims from the voters’ list. Tamil Nadu will not allow any such conspiracy,” they said.

CEO calls meeting

In the wake of the EC announcing the SIR of electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu, Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik on Monday called for a meeting of representatives of recognised political parties in Chennai on Wednesday.