NRC masked as SIR to snatch rights, alleges Thirumavalavan

CHENNAI: Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) president Thol Thirumavalavan on Monday alleged that the Election Commission of India's (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was designed to disenfranchise marginalised sections and prepare the ground for a nationwide citizenship register.

Addressing a protest organised by his party, he said the VCK had already moved the Supreme Court against the exercise.

He argued that the timing and method of the SIR placed an unreasonable burden on ordinary voters. The EC's directive, he said, required the entire electorate to effectively re-establish their eligibility. Referring to the 2002 voter list as a benchmark, he warned that many people would struggle to access old records or produce the 13 documents required to prove citizenship. As a result, he said, a significant share of voters, particularly the poor, Dalits, migrants and those working outside their home constituencies, risked exclusion. Even a 10 to 15 per cent shortfall in applications, he argued, would translate into lakhs losing their franchise.

Thirumavalavan contended that the SIR amounted to a filtration process similar to the National Register of Citizens implemented in Assam. He said the authorities were using the Election Commission's machinery to achieve indirectly what could not be enacted through legislation due to widespread opposition. He alleged that the ultimate goal was to reshape the electorate in a manner favourable to the ruling party and its ideological affiliates.

He also accused the BJP and the RSS of attempting to weaken or infiltrate regional parties, Dalit organisations and community groups across states. He claimed that such tactics, combined with a narrowed electorate, could influence tightly contested constituencies and diminish the space for Dravidian, Left and Ambedkarite politics.

Calling the SIR a political manoeuvre rather than a routine administrative review, Thirumavalavan urged the poll panel to withdraw the exercise and return to the standard summary revision.