Slamming the Election Commission of India (ECI) as a handmaiden of the BJP, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin on Sunday alleged that the Special Intensive Rolls revision exercise in the poll-bound state was a replication of the Bihar model designed to facilitate the AIADMK-BJP in the 2026 assembly poll.
“By removing the working people, scheduled castes, minorities, and women from the voters list through the SIR, the BJP and its ally, the AIADMK are calculating to win the election. But, as far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, it will prove to be a wrong calculation of those who don’t have the strength to meet the people,” he said in a letter to the party cadre.
His strong reaction comes in the wake of the EC informing the Madras High Court that the SIR will commence in Tamil Nadu in a week. The DMK government is opposed to the SIR ”as a dangerous ploy to remove genuine voters from the marginalised sections of society and also to alter the political demography by including migrant workers from northern states to help the BJP,” the letter said.
“Citing the SIR in poll-bound Bihar, where more than 65 lakh people have been stripped of their voting rights, the DMK and the INDIA Bloc have been warning against the BJP-led Union Government implementing the exercise in Tamil Nadu by turning the EC as its handmaiden. While the DMK has met the EC and insisted that due procedure should be followed with the required time for holding the SIR, the party has the strength to effectively counter the anti-democratic action through legal means and by standing with the people,” said the letter.
”With the motto of ‘My Booth is Booth of Victory’, the DMK chief said a massive training conference is being held on Tuesday (October 28, 2025) at the coastal heritage town of Mamallapuram on the East Coast Road. With Stalin presiding over it, top guns in the party, from the General Secretary to Deputy General Secretaries and others, would be participating in the meet, which will discuss the steps and programme of action for the election. Right from secretaries of town panchayats to MLAs and MPs will take part in the training.
“With the AIADMK having mortgaged the party to the BJP, it has no time to worry about the rights of people. Hence, the responsibility of being vigilant in protecting the voting rights of the people lies with the DMK and the alliance parties,” Stalin said, adding, “With every party cadre working with the motto of making their booth a booth of victory, the DMK will certainly occupy the reins of the state for the seventh time,” Stalin said in the letter.