Chennai: Amid the controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin issued a stern warning to the Union government.
Accusing the Centre and Election Commission of India (ECI) of using the SIR process to quietly erase voters from “disadvantaged and dissenting communities,” Stalin alleged it was ostensibly to tilt electoral outcomes in favour of the BJP.
“This is not about reform. It is about engineering outcomes. What happened in Bihar says it all: the Delhi regime knows the same electorate that once voted for it will now vote it out. That is why it is trying to stop them from voting altogether,” Stalin said in a statement.
The intensive revision, started in Bihar last month ahead of elections there in October-November, is aimed at cleansing the rolls of ineligible, deceased, duplicate or relocated voters. However, Opposition leaders have cried foul as they fear the Centre will take off lakhs of voters off electoral rolls all over the country.
“Don’t play with fire… any threat to our democracy will be met with firm resistance,” Stalin thundered.
He said Tamil Nadu will raise its voice “with full force” and vowed to fight this “injustice with every democratic weapon at our disposal.”
Stalin said the SIR was not an administrative necessity but as a political tool deployed by the ruling BJP. “If you cannot defeat us, you seek to delete us,” he said.
“To every citizen who believes in the Constitution, this is not just about one state, this is about the very foundation of our Republic. Democracy belongs to the people. It will not be stolen,” Stalin said.
There have been disruptions and repeated adjournments over SIR issue in both Houses of the Parliament, with frequent chanting of “SIR wapas lo (roll back SIR)”. The Bihar assembly has also seen a stormy session over the exercise.
