Tensions broke out between DMK and BJP workers outside a voter registration camp on Tuesday, held under the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive, after both sides exchanged slogans and clashed at the venue in Tamil Nadu.
Despite strong opposition from the ruling DMK, the process of revising the voter list under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) began in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday. Officials said Booth Level Officers (BLOs) would help people fill out the required voter registration forms.
The pan-India Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters list exercise also began on Tuesday in 12 states and three Union Territories.
As part of the exercise, house-to-house enumeration will be carried out from 4 November 2025 to 4 December 2025, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Tamil Nadu, said, according to media reports.
The step comes two days ahead of the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections. Bihar was the first state where the SIR was conducted, leading to the deletion of 68 lakh names from the electoral rolls after verification.
The second phase of the SIR exercise will cover close to 51 crore voters across Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Puducherry, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has moved the Supreme Court against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls declared by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Tamil Nadu.
The plea, filed by RS Bharathi, Organising Secretary of the DMK and former Rajya Sabha member, seeks to quash the ECI’s orders dated 27 October, which extended the SIR to Tamil Nadu based on earlier guidelines issued on 24 June this year for Bihar’s SIR.
The DMK argued that the orders are unconstitutional, beyond the powers of the Election Commission, and contradict the Representation of the People Act, 1950 (ROPA), and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
According to the plea, the SIR violates Articles 14, 19, 21, 325, and 326 of the Constitution and could lead to the mass disenfranchisement of genuine voters.
The plea also pointed out that Tamil Nadu had already completed a Special Summary Revision (SSR) between October 2024 and January 2025, during which the voter list was updated to include new electors and remove ineligible names. That list has been continuously updated since then and does not require another large-scale verification drive.
“There is neither necessity nor any exceptional reason to justify a de novo verification of such an extensive nature. The SIR amounts to a colourable exercise of power and is patently arbitrary, unreasonable, and illegal,” the plea said.
The petition comes after the controversial Bihar SIR, where the ECI first issued a Special Intensive Revision in June 2025. Several petitions, including those filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the National Federation for Indian Women (NFIW), are already pending before the Supreme Court challenging that order.
Despite those challenges being sub judice, the ECI on 27 October 2025 extended the SIR to other states and Union Territories, including Tamil Nadu.
According to the DMK, the SIR guidelines give the Election Commission powers to verify the citizenship status of individuals, a function that lies solely with the Union Government under the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The plea further stated that the orders allow Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to refer suspected foreign nationals to the competent authority under the Citizenship Act, even though there are no clear legal or procedural safeguards for such referrals.
According to the petition, the SIR process being followed by the Election Commission has no legal basis in any law or rule. It says that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have been asked to go door to door, verify voters, distribute and collect forms, and recommend whether a person’s name should be added or removed from the voter list — steps that are not mentioned anywhere in the Representation of the People Act (ROPA) or the 1960 Rules.
The petition also objects to the list of documents accepted under the SIR. Common IDs like ration cards, PAN cards, and voter ID cards have been left out, while voters are told to show one of only 13 specific documents, with Aadhaar added only after a Supreme Court order in a similar case from Bihar.
The DMK argued that the timeline for the SIR is unrealistic, as BLOs and election officers are expected to complete the entire process, including enumeration, verification, and handling claims, within just two months. This period also coincides with the monsoon and Pongal festival season in Tamil Nadu, making the task even harder.
The party further said there is no proper appeal process, and the schedule for filing claims and appeals overlaps, making it impossible for voters who are wrongly left out to get help before the final voter list is published on 7 February 2026.
The DMK claimed that the right to appeal under Section 24 of ROPA has become meaningless in practice.
The petition, therefore, asks the court to cancel the Election Commission’s orders dated 24 June and 27 October and stop the SIR process in Tamil Nadu.