DMK President and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has again made it clear that he is not against a special intensive revision of electoral rolls as an honest and transparent electoral roll is essential for free and fair elections. However, exercise should not be done in a hurry. | Photo credit: FILE PHOTO
DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said on Sunday that the details sought by the Election Commission of India in the enumeration form for a special intensive revision of electoral rolls would confuse even the discerning voters.
Mr. Stalin, who himself received the SIR form, said it was not clear whether the relatives details sought referred to parents, brothers, sisters, husband or wife. “Is the question clear? In the column against relatives, they looked for the voter ID number. In the third column, they looked for the names of relatives. Who should write the name of the relative or the applicant? There is a risk that the electoral commission will delete the names of voters even for a small mistake,” he said in a video message.
He described the details sought as a “bundle of confusion” and rejected the argument that there was no need to worry about the SIR as the exercise was being carried out by state government employees. “But the fact remains that the government employee will be under the control of the Election Commission and will no longer be answerable to the state government,” he said.
Mr Stalin has again made it clear that he is not against SIR as an honest and transparent electoral roll is essential for free and fair elections. “But our stand is that it should not be done in a hurry. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has explained how the ruling BJP (at the Centre) has committed serious fraud in electoral rolls with the help of the Election Commission. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee are also against SIR,” he said.
The Prime Minister said that the DMK members have brought to the notice of the party leadership the problems they have been facing since the beginning of the SIR. “BLOs (Booth Level Officers) do not visit houses and even if they do, they do not bring enough forms with them. How will the ERO (Electoral Registration Officer) be able to distribute more than three million forms in the constituency and complete the process,” he asked.
Mr. Stalin said that although the Election Commission was supposed to release the drafts on December 7, it was not certain whether it would be able to complete the exercise before the stipulated period. “As DMK and its allies fear, many voters may be delisted. Though the Election Commission has said that party BLOs and BLAs (Booth Level Agents) will cooperate, it has not yet created a conducive atmosphere for it,” he said, urging DMK members to remain vigilant.
Published – 9 Nov 2025 21:44 IST
