AIADMK welcomes revision of voters’ list: Jayakumar

CHENNAI: A day after Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin alleged that attempts were being made to follow the “Bihar model” through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to secure victory in Tamil Nadu without facing the people directly, the AIADMK on Monday ‘wholeheartedly’ welcomed the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) move and urged that the exercise be conducted fairly and transparently across the State.

In a statement, AIADMK organising secretary and former Minister D Jayakumar said the AIADMK had repeatedly highlighted serious discrepancies in the State’s voters’ list, including duplicate entries, names of deceased voters and those who had shifted residence. The party had consistently urged the ECI to conduct a comprehensive verification and publish a revised list ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.

“The AIADMK wholeheartedly welcomes the Special Intensive Revision announced by the Election Commission. The revision must be conducted systematically and transparently, ensuring that officials of the State government involved in the process act with neutrality. Every inaccuracy must be corrected so that only genuine voters have the right to choose their representatives,” he said.

He said the party’s general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami had been continuously drawing attention to such irregularities during his State-wide tour titled Makkalai Kaappom, Tamilaga Meedpom, and had urged ECI to ensure 100 per cent verification of the rolls.

Accusing Chief Minister Stalin of attempting to deflect blame ahead of an inevitable defeat in the 2026 Assembly election, Jayakumar said, “Instead of searching for excuses, the Chief Minister should correct his mistakes and focus on doing something good for the people in the remaining few months of his term.”

Jayakumar recalled that the AIADMK had raised the issue at several meetings convened by the Election Commission both at the State and national levels.

“During the Erode East by-election in 2023, over 40,000 names of people who did not reside in the constituency and about 8,000 names of deceased voters were found in the rolls. Despite submitting evidence, the Election Commission took no action until the by-election concluded,” he said.

He added that similar irregularities had been found during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, with duplicate and ineligible names still present in voters’ lists across the State. “In the R K Nagar Assembly constituency, AIADMK moved the Madras High Court with documentary evidence showing thousands of duplicate and invalid names. Following the court’s direction, the Election Commission reviewed the rolls and removed around 31,000 names so far, with further inquiries continuing,” he said.

Jayakumar noted that the AIADMK had also filed petitions regarding voter list discrepancies in several Chennai constituencies including T Nagar, Thousand Lights and Chepauk. The High Court had directed the State Election Commission to carry out verification in these areas.