Today, On 24th October, The Election Commission of India has informed the Madras High Court that the Special Intensive Revision of Tamil Nadu’s electoral rolls will start soon, ahead of upcoming elections, ensuring updated and accurate voter records.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) informed the Madras High Court that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Tamil Nadu’s electoral rolls is set to begin within a week.
This announcement was made before a bench led by Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan, who were hearing a petition from former AIADMK MLA B Sathyanarayanan.
The assurance was provided during a hearing concerning a petition that raised concerns about discrepancies in the voter lists from the 2021 Assembly elections, where a narrow defeat was attributed to systemic failures.
In the 2021 elections, Sathyanarayanan contested from the T Nagar constituency and lost by a slim margin of just 137 votes. He accused the Election Commission of “mass deletion of genuine voters” and failing to remove invalid entries, such as duplicates, non-residents, and deceased individuals from the electoral rolls.
He has called for a comprehensive and transparent re-verification of the 229 booths in the T Nagar constituency. Niranjan Rajagopal, the Standing Counsel for the ECI, assured the court that the SIR would address the petitioner’s grievances.
He claimed he lost the 2021 elections by just 137 votes due to the wrongful deletion of legitimate voters. His door-to-door verification across 100 booths uncovered issues such as duplicate entries, the inclusion of non-resident voters, and deceased individuals.
Despite presenting these findings to the Election Commission, he stated that no corrective measures were taken. He also accused the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) of generating reports without conducting actual field visits, which compromised the verification process.
His counsel argued in court documents,
“These are not mere inefficiencies but a serious dereliction of duty.”
The petitioner argued that the ECI’s lack of action violated the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and infringed on the right to vote under Article 326 of the Constitution. He urged the court to mandate a thorough re-verification to rectify wrongful inclusions and deletions, warning that negligence could jeopardize electoral integrity and public trust.
In contrast, leaders from the ruling DMK have vehemently opposed the ECI’s SIR of the state’s electoral rolls, raising concerns about potential misuse and demographic shifts.
DMK Minister Durai Murugan previously dismissed the SIR proposal, stating,
“Tamil Nadu is not Bihar. Tamil Nadu is a state where people are aware. The governance here is not like elsewhere; here we have the leadership of Thalapathy, and such tricks will not work in Tamil Nadu or with our leader.”
DMK’s Kanimozhi referred to the SIR as “Shah Intensive Revision,” accusing the BJP of undermining Tamil Nadu’s political identity and moving from “Anna’ism” to “Amitshah’ism.”