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Chennai, Nov 2 (IANS) Boycotting an all-party meeting called by the ruling DMK on Sunday to discuss the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, actor and Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) president Vijay launched a scathing attack on both the Election Commission and the state government, alleging that the ongoing process is “unconstitutional, politically motivated and a threat to democracy.”
In a strongly worded statement, Vijay said there could be massive deletion of voters’ names from the SIR, as was seen in Bihar, where “names of lakhs of minority voters were reportedly deleted” during a similar revision. He said the Election Commission’s move lacks transparency and fairness, and questioned the feasibility of verifying more than 6.36 crore voters in Tamil Nadu within just 30 days.
“Such a rushed process undermines people’s basic democratic rights,” he said. The TVK chief accused the DMK of “stage managing the all-party meeting” to divert public attention from its corruption controversies instead of taking a principled stand against the Election Commission’s decision.
“When the Kerala Assembly passed a resolution against SIR, why did the DMK not do the same, if it really opposes it?” he asked, calling the meeting “a misleading political theater designed to mislead the public.”
Vijay also outlined seven key recommendations to ensure fair and transparent voter list revision. These include rectifying genuine errors, removing fake entries, ensuring inclusion of all eligible voters, accepting Aadhaar as valid proof of identity and age and making the final rolls digitally accessible to political parties and citizens.
He urged the Election Commission to include local representatives and independent observers to prevent large-scale manipulation during the process. Reaffirming his party’s commitment to protect people’s democratic rights, Vijay announced that TVK will launch statewide awareness campaigns and monitor camps to ensure that no genuine voter is removed.
“TVK stands firmly with the people – for democracy, for rights and for justice,” he said.
Vijay’s boycott and sharp criticism come amid growing opposition from several political parties in Tamil Nadu against the SIR, claiming that it could be misused ahead of the assembly elections.
–IANS
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