Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Sunday called upon his party men to ensure none among the eligible voters are missed out during the ongoing SIR in the state.
His interaction with the public revealed that awareness on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls among the people was inadequate.
“At many places, people said that even the polling officials such as the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) did not comprehend it,” Stalin, who is president of DMK, said.
During a virtual interaction with the ruling party’s district secretaries from Anna Arivalayam, the DMK headquarters here, Stalin instructed the party functionaries and those in-charge of the constituencies to be vigilant in SIR related work.
The DMK, which questioned the timing of SIR especially its implementation during the current Northeast Monsoon period in the state, has been opposing it claiming that the massive exercise might result in the removal of voters from the minority community.
Chairing the video conference meeting organised to discuss the month-long revision drive, he said “not even a single eligible voter’s name should be left out in the SIR campaign. Similarly, ensure the names of ineligible voters are not included in the list.”
According to a source in the party, the president had instructed the booth level agents of the DMK to remain vigilant. Also, he enquired if the forms were being distributed to the public after proper explanation about SIR.
Later, in a video message, the Chief Minister claimed that the ongoing SIR may affect the voting rights of the people of the state as it posed a threat of disenfranchisement.
Lashing out at the opposition parties and the BJP for criticising his party’s stand on SIR, he said the moment the state government employees were drafted for poll work, they would become answerable only to the Election Commission.
“Despite our continuous protest, the SIR work has commenced. Many people are still not fully aware of this exercise. Hence, this video is to explain why DMK is opposing SIR and to guide the people to protect their voting rights,” Stalin said in the message.
A correct and authentic voter list formed the basis for a fair election. The DMK was not opposed to the revision of voters’ list has been insisting that it would not be appropriate to carry out the exercise in a hurry without giving sufficient time especially with only a few months left for the election, the DMK president said.
Voting rights was an undeniable and fundamental right of democracy, he stressed. “The current SIR has affected the voting rights of the entire people of Tamil Nadu. To counter this, we have set up a helpline on behalf of the DMK,” he said.
This was not exclusively meant for the DMK members but would assist the public too. People can have their doubts cleared through the helpline number: 08065420020, he announced.
In the eight minutes video posted on his social media platform ‘X’ Stalin said the party felt that SIR was a “conspiracy” and hence opposed it. The party not only discussed the issue with its allies but also filed a case in the Supreme Court. It even announced protests on behalf of the Secular Progressive Alliance in all district headquarters on November 11, he said.
The Chief Minister asserted the present revision exercise caused confusion in the minds of the people. “Some of you must have received this form by now. Even I did. First, they ask for our details, next the name of the voter’s relative in the previous voter revision list,” he said.
Also there was no clarity on whose name should be written first – the voter or the name of the relative.
Even if there is a small mistake, then there is a risk that the Election Commission will not accept the form and remove the name from the voter list. “This is scary to think. Even the educated and intelligent people will be confused when they see the forms where the voter is asked to affix the current photograph,” Stalin said in the video.
He wondered whether the voting rights would be taken away if the photo was not updated and reiterated that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and its allies fear that a large number of voters will be removed in this exercise.
