Tamil Nadu minister Aadav has issued a statement countering DMK leader M.K. Stalin’s claim that the party’s electoral setback was due to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list.
In his response, Aadav alleged that the DMK publicly opposed SIR at various stages but later entered into a “secret understanding” with the Election Commission and the BJP, and that the revision work in Tamil Nadu was carried out under DMK’s control.
He further claimed that although Booth Level Officers (BLOs) were state government employees, voter-list materials ended up with DMK union and branch functionaries. He also alleged that DMK district secretaries and ministers decided which officials would be assigned to specific polling booths.
Aadav alleged that 7 lakh people were deployed for the exercise and that 74 lakh voters were removed from the rolls, with young voters under 30 and women being specifically targeted. He said his party had opposed SIR earlier and claimed it would have won more seats without the revision.
The minister said evidence would be presented at an appropriate time to expose what he described as DMK’s role in the SIR process, and added that his party would continue to oppose any SIR carried out against rules and democratic norms.
