CHENNAI: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and its allies are vehemently opposing the Election Commission’s decision to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Tamil Nadu, accusing the Centre of taking away the voting rights of the poor and minorities. This alliance has moved the Supreme Court, which has posed questions that placed them in a difficult position. They argued that the exercise “is hasty and should be done after the Assembly elections”, hoping to contest the polls with the existing rolls that were advantageous to them.
However, reports expose anomalies of bogus voters and glaring discrepancies during the SIR exercise. On a daily basis, DMK and its allies have been making unfounded allegations against the Election Commission and the BJP.
However, the following samples illustrate the reasons for their opposition. In Tiruppur, in one address, Door No. 40, an unusually large number of voters were registered. Serial No. 720, a 108-year-old man, reportedly has a 56-year-old wife (Serial No. 719) and a 28-year-old daughter (Serial No. 721). In another case, a 21-year-old woman (Serial No. 742) is shown to have children aged 21, 29, and 31 (Serial Nos. 743, 744, 745). This is the reason why the DMK is raising its voice at the highest pitch.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, speaking to the media in Coimbatore, alleged that thousands of fake and duplicate voters were found in Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s Kolathur constituency during the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls. She asked, “Can we assert that Stalin won the election using these bogus voters in his Kolathur constituency? Should these irregularities not be eliminated?”
முதல்வர் இதற்கு பதிலடி கொடுப்பாரா?
4370 போலி வாக்காளர்கள் கொளத்தூரில் உள்ளனர், அவர்களை வைத்துதான் முதல்வர் 2021 ஆம் தேர்தலில் வெற்றி பெற்றாரா என்று நிர்மலா சீதாராமன் கேட்டிருப்பது மிகப்பெரிய அளவில் அவமானத்தை ஏற்படுத்தியுள்ளது 🤦🏻♂️— KawiN (@RR013C) November 11, 2025
She added, “In Booth Number 157, the name ‘Rafiullah’ is listed in three places with three different EPIC numbers. Approximately 9,133 voters are registered with fake addresses in the Kolathur constituency. Moreover, 30 voter IDs are registered at a single address (House Number 11, Booth Number 84), and 62 voters from various religions and castes are listed at one address (House Number 20, Booth Number 187). Similarly, 80 voters of different religions are registered at one house (House Number 10, Booth Number 140).”
Nirmala Sitharaman said that “upon verification, it is evident that they live at different addresses. In total, there are 5,964 mixed households, voters with no relation to each other, falsely registered at the same address in the constituency. If there is so much duplication in just one constituency, should these irregularities not be rectified and the system reformed?” This issue was earlier flagged by former Union Minister Anurag Thakur.
The voting rights of at least 40,000 residents of Perumbakkam, one of the largest resettlement colonies in south Chennai, are reportedly at stake during the ongoing voter enrolment drive due to irregularities in address details on voter IDs. Nearly 26,000 families living in the Perumbakkam colony may lose their voting rights — not because they are ineligible, but because the Election Commission cannot locate them on paper. Most voter IDs issued here carry only a door number and no block number, an anomaly in a settlement comprising 200–250 blocks. The result is a chaotic overlap in which hundreds of voters share the same official address, crippling the ongoing Summary Revision exercise. Locals allege that “177 residents are registered under Door No. 1, with no block number”.
An AIADMK spokesperson questioned, “How could 55,000 votes be scanned in a single day? What is happening in the RK Nagar Assembly segment? How could the DMK carry out irregularities in all places?”
என்ன நடக்குது இங்க? ஒரே நாள்ல 55,000 ஓட்டு எப்டி ஸ்கேன் பண்ண முடியும்?
R.K நகரில் S.I.R இல் முறைகேடு செய்வதாக BLO அலுவலரிடம் பொதுமக்கள் ஆவேசம்! @mkstalin எப்டி CM SIR எல்லாத்துலயும் முறைகேடு பண்றீங்க ?? #திருட்டுதிமுக pic.twitter.com/JOcULs8XZ5
— Dharshini S (@Dharshini_tvk) November 15, 2025
The fledgling actor-turned-politician Joseph Vijay’s TVK held a protest against the SIR, though he was absent. TVK general secretaries N. Anand and Adhav Arjuna condemned the ECI for conducting the exercise in haste. They alleged, “DMK has captured the BLO machinery across Tamil Nadu. DMK men are allegedly distributing the enumeration forms only to those they prefer. The Central government is tightening our neck with SIR and the DMK is bending the process in its favour.” Anand added, “All 68,000 BLOs are controlled by the DMK government. In many places, MLAs and ministers instructed government staff to step aside so that DMK cadres could handle the form distribution.”
TN BJP chief Nainar Nagendran, on November 16, said SIR was being conducted due to the state government’s inefficiency despite clear instructions from the ECI. He emphasised that removing dead voters and adding new ones is a standard procedure carried out in every election cycle. Accusing the DMK of exaggerating the SIR exercise, Nagendran said, “DMK opposed every scheme brought by the Central government, including CAA and NRC, even though not a single Muslim resident was affected anywhere in India. Similarly, they are indulging in false propaganda over SIR. It is similar to earlier exercises of electoral roll revision, where enumeration forms are processed until the notification of the election.”
AIADMK senior and former state minister D. Jayakumar claimed that the ruling DMK was encouraging its party members to distribute forms during the ongoing SIR in Tamil Nadu. He said, “Certain officials partisan towards the DMK are not ensuring a smooth SIR exercise. DMK party members can be seen distributing the forms for updation, though BLOs ought to distribute them to voters. BLOs are unable to explain the details sought by the electorate while distributing the forms at the doorsteps.”
Earlier, former TN BJP chief Annamalai said in a post on X, “The appalling double standards of Tamil Nadu CM Thiru @mkstalin on the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral roll in Tamil Nadu, and the assumption that the SIR is some conspiracy, shows how hollow his understanding is. Intensive revisions of electoral rolls in all or some parts of the country have been undertaken 13 times earlier: 1952–56, 1957, 1961, 1965, 1966, 1983–84, 1987–89, 1992, 1993, 1995, 2002, 2003, and 2004. Clearly, this is not the first time.”
Appalling double standards of Tamil Nadu CM Thiru @mkstalin on the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral roll in Tamil Nadu, and the assumption that the SIR of electoral rolls is some conspiracy, shows how hollow his understanding is.
The Intensive revisions of electoral… https://t.co/bRpBR9mqDi
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) October 28, 2025
Critics say, “DMK has been playing dirty politics to remain in power as it sees the writing on the wall, with a strong anti-incumbency wave after the Bihar polls. It should be noted that after DMK’s comments on Bihar people, wherever Stalin campaigned, the RJD-led alliance lost heavily. In one video, Bihar residents said they wanted to slap Stalin and his leaders for their highly damaging comments.”
They argue that the DMK resorts to such tactics to divert attention from the failures of its Dravidian Model governance and its inability to fulfil its 2021 poll promises, including rising fees.
