Stalin searching for excuses in advance for an impending defeat: Nainar Nagenthran

CHENNAI: BJP state president Nainar Nagenthran on Monday accused Chief Minister MK Stalin of ‘searching for excuses in advance for an impending defeat’, after the Election Commission of India announced the commencement of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across the nation.

Nainar Nagenthran said the Chief Minister's reaction to the Election Commission's announcement was nothing short of an ‘unwarranted outburst’.

He reminded Stalin that it was the DMK itself which had approached the Madras High Court in 2017, during the RK Nagar bypoll, alleging the presence of bogus voters and demanding a revision of the electoral rolls.

"Has the Chief Minister forgotten that even during the Congress regime, starting from the tenure of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the SIR was conducted at least ten times? This is a routine process of the Election Commission, not a new or suspicious move as he is trying to portray," he said in a statement.

Questioning the government's motives, the BJP leader noted that the officials engaged in the revision exercise, from the Chief Electoral Officer and District Collectors to Revenue and Village Administrative Officers, are all working under the Tamil Nadu government. "By raising doubts about their integrity, is the DMK government not indirectly questioning its own officials?" he asked.

The BJP legislature party leader further stated that the revision exercise was being carried out to prevent the inclusion of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh in the voters' list, not to remove genuine Tamil Nadu voters.

Accusing the DMK government of trying to divert public attention, Nainar said, "Instead of addressing pressing issues such as flood mismanagement, poor-quality roads, drinking water shortages, irregularities in paddy procurement, and the Pallikaranai marsh land scam, the Chief Minister is using the SIR issue as a smokescreen."

"No matter how many diversionary tactics the DMK adopts, people have seen through their failures and will not forgive or forget. The DMK's defeat is inevitable, " he added.