Annamalai says deceitful DMK sought poll revision multiple times in the past

CHENNAI: BJP national general council member K Annamalai on Tuesday countered Chief Minister MK Stalin over his criticism of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu, accusing him of "appalling double standards" and "selective amnesia."

Dismissing Stalin's claims that the Election Commission's SIR exercise was a "conspiracy" to disenfranchise voters and benefit the BJP, Annamalai said such assumptions expose the Chief Minister's "hollow understanding" of democratic processes. "Intensive revisions of electoral rolls have been conducted 13 times in the past, including between 1952 and 2004. This is not the first time," he clarified in a social media post, quoting Stalin's post.

The former BJP state president reminded that it was the DMK itself that had repeatedly demanded similar revisions. "In 2016, DMK alleged the existence of 57.43 lakh bogus voters. Again, in 2017, it sought statewide revision, linking Aadhaar to voter IDs, and even urged door-to-door verification," he said.

Annamalai also recalled that before the RK Nagar bypoll, Stalin had approached the Madras High Court seeking the deletion of the names of deceased or relocated voters. "The sanctity of democracy rests on the integrity of the electoral roll. One hopes the DMK rediscovers this wisdom and spares Tamil Nadu another episode of selective amnesia," he remarked.

Stalin had earlier alleged that conducting SIR before the elections and during the monsoon months was "a ploy to aid the BJP and suppress voters' rights."