BJP’s Tamilisai Soundararajan urged support for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Tamil Nadu, calling it beneficial for democracy. The call comes amid widespread protests from INDIA bloc parties like Congress and DMK, who allege malpractice.
BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan urged support for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Tamil Nadu on Thursday, emphasising that SIR will help enhance the democratic process. The BJP leader condemned the protests against the SIR process, stating that the energy spent on protests could be better utilised to support SIR and create a list without any obstacles. “Everyone should support the SIR, the ECI has started the process and over 5.5 crore forms have been distributed… When the BLO is distributing the forms, sit with them, fill and give it to them as they have all of your numbers… I condemn the agitation against this because this energy, instead of being wasted can also be used to support SIR and forming list without any hurdles… It will be helpful for the democratic process. I have also written a book on this… Let Vijay read this and not get aligned with the ideology of DMK… His party is new and he should be happy as his party now would not be affected by the bogus voters like we were…,” Soundararajan told ANI.
Opposition Parties Protest SIR Exercise
Earlier, Tamil Nadu Congress president K Selvaperunthagai accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of conducting “malpractice” in the name of Special Intensive Revision. While speaking to ANI, Selvaperunthagai stated that the Congress party is conducting an agitation against SIR across Tamil Nadu. “Today, across the entire Tamil Nadu, at all district headquarters, we are conducting an agitation against the SIR. Our INDIA alliance partners, headed by DMK’s supreme leader Stalin, announced this… Wherever the BJP conducts elections, it is doing some malpractice. What happened in Haryana, Maharashtra, and Delhi? Even in Bihar, a lot of confusion is going on. 75 lakhs votes removed. The leader, the country’s opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, brought to the notice of the parliament and the Election Commission,” he said.
In addition to Congress, other parties in Tamil Nadu are also opposing the SIR process. DMK MP TR Baalu stated that there is no provision related to SIR in the Constitution, alleging that the Election Commission is overruling it. “There are a lot of questions…There is no provision in the Constitution for SIR. The Election Commission is overwriting the Constitution,” TR Baalu told reporters.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin alleged that the intent behind the SIR exercise is to strip the people of their voting rights. Sharing an X post on November 2, he wrote, “It is the duty of all parties to unite and raise their voices against the SIR being hastily implemented with the intent of snatching away the voting rights of the people of Tamil Nadu and murdering democracy.” “Regarding the confusion and doubts in the voter list revisions – since our demand that they should be conducted after the 2026 general elections with adequate time and without any issues has not been accepted by the ECI, we have passed a resolution in today’s all-party meeting to approach the Supreme Court,” he added.
TMC Alleges ECI Bias in West Bengal
Besides Tamil Nadu, the parties in West Bengal have also opposed the exercise of SIR. The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday accused the Election Commission of “favouring” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by amending the rules for appointing Booth-Level Agents (BLAs) amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in West Bengal. In a press conference, TMC leader Kalyan Banerjee flagged that ECI has issued the new circular to “accommodate” the BJP workers.”BJP does not have their BLAs, hardly 20 to 30 per cent are there. Now, to help the BJP, favour the BJP, the Election Commission has issued this new circular to accommodate BJP workers who have no authority at the booth and bring in individuals from other places,” Kalyan Banerjee said.
“The way the BJP does the election, they bring hooligans. This has been indulged by the Election Commission. EC is totally biased. What they are doing is in favour of the BJP,” he added. The allegations came after ECI issued a circular modifying the appointment criteria of BLAs. Earlier, the BLA had to belong to the same part of the electoral roll. According to the circular released by EC, “In case of unavailability of Booth Level Agent (BLA) from the same Part of the electoral roll, Booth Level Agent may be appointed from any registered elector of the same Assembly Constituency.”
ECI Conducts Nationwide Revision Process
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is conducting the second phase of Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls across 12 States and Union Territories, with the final voter list to be published on February 7, 2026, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar said. The exercise will cover Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
Currently, the Supreme Court is hearing a case against the first phase of SIR in Bihar, ahead of the state’s Assembly elections. (ANI)
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