Election Commission erasing SIR norms from site, says TNCC chief

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K Selvaperunthagai on Tuesday criticised the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that the exercise lacked transparency and was designed to benefit the BJP.

He said the SIR, which commenced across the State on Tuesday, had raised “serious doubts about fairness and intent right from day one.” According to him, key guidelines issued by the ECI during a similar exercise in 2003 had been removed from the Commission’s website. “If the procedures are the same as claimed, why delete them? What is the need for secrecy in a democracy?” he asked, calling the move “deeply suspicious.”

The new process, he alleged, created possibilities for arbitrary deletion and inclusion of voter names. He also claimed that the Commission’s approach could lead to “lakhs of legitimate voters being dropped and non-resident voters being added without proper verification.”

Selvaperunthagai further charged that inflated migrant worker figures could be used to manipulate the rolls. “Tamil Nadu has around 35 lakh migrant workers according to government records, but the E-Shram portal claims nearly one crore. This mismatch shows a clear plan to insert outsiders into the voters’ list,” he alleged.

“Do not assume your vote is safe. Those determined to tamper with democracy will delete names silently,” he cautioned the public.

Announcing “SIR monitoring war rooms” in every district and a central control room in Chennai, he said the Congress would closely track the process. He supported CM Stalin on the issue.