Chennai, 2 November (H.S.) : Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary Vaiko has accused the Union government of using the Election Commission of India (ECI) to undermine the state's democratic foundation through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Speaking after an all-party meeting convened by Chief Minister M K Stalin, Mr. Vaiko asserted that the SIR acts at the behest of the Centre and strikes at the very roots of democracy. He cautioned that the revision could be a mechanism orchestrated to include non-local voters, warning that the large-scale inclusion of voters from other states could lead to a significant demographic imbalance in Tamil Nadu.

The all-party resolution, which termed the SIR unconstitutional and anti-democratic, demanded the ECI immediately halt the exercise, threatening to jointly move the Supreme Court. The parties pointed out that the revision violates the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which requires a formal Gazette notification from the Central government.

Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) president Thol Thirumavalavan intensified the criticism, stating that the SIR is a targeted assault on citizenship rather than just voting rights.

He alleged that the electoral exercise is a politically motivated and veiled attempt to impose the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) step-by-step, cautioning that the ECI lacks the authority to conduct such a citizenship verification process.

The parties collectively warned that if the ECI fails to withdraw its illegal notification, they will seek judicial remedy to protect democracy.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Dr. R. B. Chaudhary