DMK-led alliance to hold statewide agitations on Nov 11 against SIR

by IANS |

Chennai, Nov 8 (IANS) The DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) has announced statewide agitations on November 11 across all districts of Tamil Nadu to protest against the Election Commission of India's (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

In a joint statement issued by the alliance partners, the bloc accused the ECI of proceeding with the revision in an "authoritative and unilateral manner" despite widespread objections raised by most political parties.

The alliance claimed that the SIR exercise was "politically motivated" and "intended to remove the names of minority and anti-BJP voters from the electoral rolls".

According to the statement, the ECI's decision to implement the SIR in 12 states and Union Territories, including Tamil Nadu, while allegedly failing to address discrepancies in the Bihar electoral rolls, was described as" undemocratic" and aimed at "undermining" the voting rights of citizens.

The leaders argued that the "Commission's haste in conducting the revision without addressing existing confusions had eroded public confidence in the process".

The alliance also expressed concern over the timing of the enumeration phase, which coincides with the northeast monsoon in Tamil Nadu. It noted that district and local officials would already be engaged in rain-related relief and disaster management work, potentially affecting the proper conduct of the revision.

Further, the alliance pointed out several irregularities in the preparatory stages of the exercise.

It said that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) in many areas had not yet begun distributing enumeration forms and had not established proper communication channels with Booth Level Agents (BLAs) appointed by political parties.

It also highlighted that the electoral rolls of 2002 and 2005, currently available on the ECI's website, were incomplete and creating confusion among officials and political representatives.

Citing these procedural lapses and the alleged partisan intent behind the revision, the Secular Progressive Alliance demanded that the Election Commission immediately withdraw the SIR and initiate a transparent, inclusive process in consultation with all political parties before any further revision of the voters' list is carried out.