AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami.
Credit: PTI Photo
Chennai: Strongly supporting the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Monday accused the ruling DMK of opposing the exercise as it is scared of losing “fake voters” who help them cheat the system.
He also asked his party cadres and people to remain alert and vigilant against the DMK’s “voter fraud tactics.”
In his interaction with reporters in Coimbatore, Palaniswami said every party leader speaks to energizse their cadre when asked to comment on actor-politician Vijay projecting the 2026 Assembly elections as a fight between TVK and DMK.
The former chief minister also asserted that the AIADMK will lead the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu and that only parties that accept his leadership are welcome, in a clear signal that the invitation from his party leaders to Vijay was only to join the alliance.
Palaniswami said the SIR is being held after a gap of more than two decades and is intended at removing irregularities in the electoral rolls to ensure clean and fair elections.
“Even after residents have shifted houses, their old names are still included. The SIR work is meant to remove such irregularities and include genuine voters. But the DMK is opposing it because it thrives on fake votes,” he said, and asked the DMK to explain why it is opposing a standard, and transparent process that had been conducted several times before.
“Why are they screaming about SIR? A government officer, the Booth Level Officer (BLO), visits each home, distributes forms, collects them, and updates the rolls. There is no chance of delay as they have a full month to complete this work. DMK’s panic only shows their fear of losing the fake voters who help them cheat the system,” he said.
He also said the AIADMK has impleaded itself in a petition filed by the DMK in the Supreme Court to correct the false claims filed by the DMK and alleged that DMK workers are distributing the enumeration forms in many areas.
Responding to Palaniswami, Chief Minister M K Stalin said the former chief minister would accept anything that the BJP asks him to do.
To a question, Palaniswami said the DMK resorts to personal criticism against him since the party doesn’t have anything constructive to blame for his tenure as CM from 2017 to 2021.
“They falsely claim we are slaves to the BJP, but even Amit Shah has clearly said AIADMK will lead the alliance and form the next government. DMK has nothing to show for four and a half years. The people are angry and want this corrupt regime gone,” he said.