Chennai, 2 November (H.S.): In a collective show of strength, an all-party meeting led by Chief Minister and DMK president M K Stalin on Sunday passed a resolution demanding the Election Commission of India (ECI) immediately suspend the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu.

The parties unanimously labelled the SIR exercise as unconstitutional and anti-democratic, warning they would jointly move the Supreme Court of India if the ECI failed to comply and safeguard the rights of voters.

The resolution strongly condemned the ECI, accusing the body of acting as a puppet of the Union government and exercising arbitrary authority. They pointed out that the revision violates the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which mandates a formal Gazette notification from the Central government before such an exercise can commence.

Furthermore, the meeting alleged that the SIR is a politically motivated tool, citing irregularities in Bihar, where it was allegedly used to delete genuine voters and include ineligible names. The parties also criticised the ECI’s recent circular on Aadhaar verification for its contradictory and confusing directives, which they claim has created suspicion and lacks transparency.

A key concern raised was the impractical timing of the enumeration phase, scheduled from November 4 to December 4, 2025. The parties highlighted that this period coincides with the North-East monsoon, an impractical time that could potentially cause lakhs of rural voters and farmers to lose their franchise.

Calling the SIR a threat to democracy, the meeting demanded that the entire process be postponed until after the 2026 Assembly elections and conducted strictly under the supervision of the Supreme Court.

The collective action is being taken as a similar SIR-related case is already pending before the Apex Court concerning Bihar.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Dr. R. B. Chaudhary