SIR led to Stalin’s Kolathur defeat, alleges Thirumavalavan

CHENNAI: VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan on Thursday alleged that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls contributed to DMK president MK Stalin’s defeat in the Kolathur Assembly constituency.

Speaking at a protest in Chennai against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Thirumavalavan accused the BJP of targeting its political opponents. He cited the electoral defeats of Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin and Pinarayi Vijayan, alleging that they were not ordinary electoral setbacks but part of a broader political targeting.

Thirumavalavan said the SIR exercise was not new, but alleged that Gyanesh Kumar was being used to implement the Sangh Parivar’s agenda and target its political opponents.

Referring to the election in Kolathur, he claimed that one lakh votes had been deleted from the constituency. He said he had brought the issue to the attention of then Minister PK Sekarbabu after receiving information about the deletions.

Thirumavalavan also said a woman had warned him about the possibility of Stalin losing the election.

“When I met Stalin, I alerted him about the alleged plot in Kolathur and urged him to shift to another constituency. However, he and Minister Sekarbabu rejected my suggestion. I am not making these remarks to criticise anyone,” he said.

Despite being part of the TVK-led alliance, Thirumavalavan adopted a conciliatory tone towards DMK president MK Stalin. During his speech, he referred to Stalin as 'Stalin Annan' several times.