Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin, while campaigning in Bihar alongside Rahul Gandhi and accusing the Election Commission of India over its Special Intensive Revision (SIR), appears to have overlooked the situation in his own state. Reports and BJP allegations point to a massive list of bogus voters in Tamil Nadu itself. BJP MP Anurag Singh Thakur has specifically flagged irregularities in Stalin’s Kolathur Assembly constituency, even though the state government’s fact-checking panel has denied the charges.
After the Election Commission of India launched a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar, where Assembly polls are due, the Congress, which has been losing elections since 2014, accused Modi and the ECI of deleting genuine voters and levelled other baseless charges. Critics point out that this is part of a grand design by foreign forces intent on destabilising the Modi government by hook or crook. Rahul Gandhi earlier accused that EVMs were manipulated, then questioned VVPAT, and now targets SIR after failing to push for a return to ballot papers.
On 17 August, Rahul Gandhi launched his 1,300 km-long Voter Adhikar Yatra from Sasaram in Bihar to step up the Opposition INDI bloc’s campaign against what it claims is “vote chori” (vote theft). The ECI asked him to file charges under oath, but he disregarded this and continued his diatribe against the constitutional institution. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar gave him a seven-day ultimatum to submit a signed affidavit to back his allegations, failing which his claims would be treated as baseless, requiring him to offer an unconditional apology to the nation.
Enraged by the ECI’s stand, Rahul Gandhi on August 18 declared that “vote chori” was an attack on Bharat Mata and even issued a veiled threat of stern action against the CEC and the two Election Commissioners once the INDI bloc comes to power.
In Tamil Nadu, CM Stalin backed Rahul’s stand and demanded the withdrawal of SIR. He and his allies, including Congress MP Chidambaram, opposed the Centre’s plan to enrol over 6.5 lakh voters from Bihar.
On August 18, Stalin listed questions to the ECI: “Has any database been compiled to show how many youngsters who turned 18 on the qualifying date were included? Will the procedure for inquiry and two appeals under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, exclude a huge number of voters in the upcoming Bihar polls? Will the ECI address this issue? Will these practical difficulties be taken into account while conducting SIR in other states? What prevented the ECI from enlisting Aadhaar as one of the acceptable documents to prove a voter’s claim? If free and fair elections are truly the aim of the ECI, why can’t it be more transparent and voter-friendly?”
The DMK’s district secretaries’ meeting in Chennai on August 13 passed a resolution condemning SIR and alleging “vote theft”.
On the same day, BJP MP and former Union minister Anurag Singh Thakur dropped a bombshell, demanding the resignation of DMK chief M. K. Stalin and SP leader Dimple Yadav for “rigging” elections. He flagged irregularities in Kolathur Assembly constituency, where Stalin contested and won, as well as in the Manipuri (UP) Lok Sabha seat.
Thakur said, “Now, coming to Kolathur—M. K. Stalin has 19,476 doubtful voters. Among these, 9,133 voters have been registered on fake addresses. In house number 11, the same address shows 30 voter IDs—polling booth number 84 in the Kolathur Assembly segment. Here, Mohammad Amin, Jafar Ali, Arifa, Aishi, Bibi Anwar, Raifulla, Rafiulla—and for the same Rafiulla, three separate voter IDs have been made. My question is—Stalin ji, how did Rafiulla’s name appear three times on polling booth number 157? Is this a mistake, or done deliberately? And there are many more such examples.”
Thakur added, “It is now clear that Rahul Gandhi stands on the SIR to save the infiltrator vote bank. M. K. Stalin stands on the SIR. Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav all stand to protect this illegal vote bank. But today, whether it is Abhishek ji, Rahul ji, Priyanka ji, Sonia ji, Stalin ji, or Akhilesh ji, in all their constituencies, the fraud of votes and the game of multiple voter IDs is openly exposed. This game has been plotted only to save their infiltrator vote bank.”
He remarked, “Seeing this shor (hue and cry) by the Opposition, it now seems a case of chor machaye shor (the thief is raising a hue and cry). From Rae Bareli, Wayanad, Kannauj to Diamond Harbour, one question is being asked everywhere: why did they create fake voters? Will they resign for indulging in vote theft and protecting intruders?” The Tamil Nadu government’s fact-checking panel, however, denied his charges.
Critics recall that both DMK and AIADMK have long relied on rigging, impersonation, and bulk voting with the help of officials. In Tamil Nadu, even the dead would turn up to cast votes, while those who migrated would also be shown voting. Booth-level functionaries prepared advance lists and arranged people to impersonate them, often identified by black trousers and white shirts. Such voters were transported in vans to multiple booths, with ink marks easily removed. By afternoon, “dead voters” would cast their votes. Later in the day, unpolled votes would be cast by both parties under a tacit understanding. Officials and police remained silent spectators, except when clashes broke out over a breach of this unwritten pact. These practices were rampant in the paper ballot era and continue even after the introduction of EVMs. Sometimes, under the guise of assisting the elderly or the blind, party workers would accompany them with leaders’ pictures tucked in their shirt pockets and cast votes accordingly. Many former booth agents confirm this practice.
Critics argue it is like the “kettle calling the pot black”: the DMK, itself a master in election malpractice, accuses others while questioning the ECI’s genuine SIR exercise. The DMK has mastered the art of distributing cash and gifts to voters, often through covert methods such as Oraniyil Tamil Nadu, which helps identify supporters and opponents. They first attempt persuasion with claims of government achievements, then offer freebies, and later apply indirect pressure. Such lists are used to delete or enrol voters to suit political needs. For example, in Coimbatore Lok Sabha constituency, nearly two lakh voters were allegedly deleted when BJP chief Annamalai contested. He lost the election by over one lakh votes, which critics allege was due to a deliberate exercise by the ruling party to defeat him.
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