Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state, a day after an all-party meeting chaired by Chief Minister M K Stalin resolved to take legal recourse against the Election Commission’s decision.
According to a DMK release, the petition was filed by R S Bharathi, the party’s Organisation Secretary and senior leader, through party MP and senior advocate N R Elango, news agency PTI reported.
‘SIR Is a Threat to Democracy’: MK Stalin
Chief Minister Stalin, who presided over the all-party meeting in Chennai on Sunday, said that since the Election Commission of India (ECI) had refused to defer the SIR till after the 2026 Assembly elections, the parties had unanimously decided to approach the Supreme Court.
“Since the EC has not accepted our request to hold the SIR of electoral rolls after the 2026 Assembly polls, by giving adequate time to carry out revisions without confusions and doubts, we have passed a resolution in today’s all-party meeting to approach the Supreme Court,” Stalin said in a statement.
He described the move to conduct the revision now as a “hasty exercise aimed at murdering democracy and taking away the voting rights of the Tamil Nadu people.” Thanking all the parties that participated, Stalin urged those who had not attended the meeting to “discuss SIR and take steps to protect democracy.”
The resolution adopted at the meeting alleged that the Election Commission was “acting as a puppet of the Union government with an authoritarian tendency,” despite opposition from most political parties across the country. It noted that while the Bihar SIR case was still pending in the Supreme Court and its final verdict awaited, the ECI had initiated the second phase of the exercise in 12 states, including Tamil Nadu, which the parties termed “unacceptable.”
“There is no doubt that implementing the SIR scheme in 12 states, including Tamil Nadu, without rectifying any of the irregularities that occurred in Bihar, is snatching away the people’s right to vote and digging a grave to completely bury democracy,” the resolution stated.
‘SIR Notification Illegal, Misleading’: DMK Bloc Resolution
The resolution also contended that the SIR notification issued on 27 October 2025 violated Section 169 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, as it was not published in the Union government’s gazette as required by law. “The Election Commission unilaterally issuing the notification without following that procedure is against the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act. The SIR notification issued now is itself illegal,” it said.
It further claimed that although the Supreme Court had earlier permitted Aadhaar to be used as the twelfth document for voter identification, the ECI’s latest notification mentioned Aadhaar in an “unclear and confusing manner.” The language used in the notification, the resolution alleged, raised “strong suspicions” that it was designed to create confusion and pave the way for removing genuine voters from the electoral rolls.
“The shortcomings in the Election Commission’s notification must be rectified, the Supreme Court’s guidelines must be openly followed, adequate time must be given, and only after the 2026 elections should the Election Commission conduct the SIR in an unbiased manner,” the resolution added.
Besides the DMK, the meeting was attended by its allies — Congress, MDMK, VCK, CPI, CPI(M), IUML, Makkal Needhi Maiam, and Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi — as well as friendly outfits such as DMDK, SDPI, Tamilaga Vazhvurimai Katchi, and the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK).
‘Diversion from Corruption Charges’: Union Minister Murugan Hits Back At DMK Bloc
Reacting to the development, Union Minister L Murugan accused the DMK government of opposing the SIR only to distract the public from corruption allegations, particularly the cash-for-jobs scam.
“The DMK government was opposing SIR only to divert the people’s attention from the corruption charges, especially the recent cash for job scam. It enacted a drama by conducting all-party meeting opposing the Special Intensive Revision,” he told reporters, as quoted by PTI.
Murugan also referred to MDMK chief Vaiko’s earlier claim that there were “75 lakh bogus votes.” He said, “If that is the case, can we face elections with those names? Does not the SIR show a need to update electoral rolls?”
Calling upon all political parties to cooperate with the Election Commission of India, Murugan said, “There’s no use of this exercise after the election. SIR should be carried out before the poll. There are still six months left. The genuine voters should not be left out. At the same time the bogus votes, duplication of votes and those of the deceased should be removed from the voters’ list. Hence, an updation of SIR is the need of the hour.”
He also questioned the DMK’s distrust of the process, saying, “Officials from Tamil Nadu including booth level officers would be present during the SIR. The DMK is objecting to SIR, then does this mean it does not trust the state government employees?”
When asked about allegations of removing minority names from the rolls, Murugan replied, “How can the Commission remove the names of voters without their permission? How can such allegations be made when the SIR is yet to begin? All are voters. There is no such thing as minority or majority voters, please don’t politicise.”
Murugan further alleged that “it’s the wont of the DMK to mislead and distract the people whenever it faced corruption charges,” claiming that the government was trying to divert attention from the ongoing cash-for-jobs scandal.