Chennai, Oct 27 Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagenthran on Monday accused Chief Minister M.K. Stalin of searching for excuses for his party’s impending defeat by opposing the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Nagenthran said it was ironic that Stalin, who once demanded such a revision during the 2017 R.K. Nagar by-election, citing bogus voters, is now questioning the very process.
“Whenever the Election Commission announces a voter list revision, Stalin raises an outcry. I wish to remind him that in 2017, it was the DMK that moved the Madras High Court seeking a special revision due to the presence of fake voters in R.K. Nagar. Has he forgotten that?” the BJP leader asked.
He said the Chief Minister’s allegation that the Election Commission was acting at the behest of the BJP was baseless.
“From the time of Jawaharlal Nehru, during successive Congress governments, as many as ten special voter list revisions have been undertaken. It is a routine administrative process. Does the Chief Minister not know this historical fact?” Nagenthran said.
Rejecting the DMK’s claim that the revision exercise could lead to voter deletions, the BJP leader said all officials involved — from the Chief Electoral Officer to district collectors, revenue officials, and village administrative officers — were government employees under the Tamil Nadu administration.
“If Stalin believes the process is being misused, is he saying his own officers are dishonest?” he asked.
Nagenthran further alleged that the DMK was attempting to politicise a legitimate verification exercise meant to prevent illegal voting.
“The voter list revision is being done to ensure that infiltrators, including Bangladeshis who have entered Tamil Nadu, do not get enrolled as voters. It is not to erase the names of genuine Tamil Nadu citizens,” he said.
Accusing the ruling party of trying to divert attention from governance failures, Nagenthran said, “The DMK government wants to hide its incompetence — the floods, poor roads, crop damage, water scarcity, and corruption in school fees. But people have seen through these lies. No matter how much the Chief Minister changes his tune, the people will not change their minds. The DMK’s defeat is certain.”
--IANS
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