The actor-politician Vijay-led Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) held a statewide demonstration on Sunday against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls exercise being carried out across Tamil Nadu. TVK state general secretary N Anand and senior leader Adhav Arjuna led the protests in Chennai, while others, including joint general secretary CTR Nirmalkumar, took part in Madurai, and propaganda secretary KG Arunraaj participated in Coimbatore.
Addressing the gathering at Chepauk, Arjuna declared, "TVK leader Vijay is not a candidate for the 2026 Assembly elections, but he will be the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu." He added, "Whatever has been told by the DMK to defame us, we should not react.... We should only take the positives. We should ensure that the objective of making our leader as the CM in 2026 elections is achieved."
Arjuna also criticised the conditions put forth by the state government for holding the protests, stating that even on Sunday morning, police officials had instructed the party to reduce the height of the stage from five feet to three feet.
In his speech, Anand confirmed that, as per the instructions of party chief Vijay, TVK was staging the protest across Tamil Nadu. "This protest is not just for a small demand. But it is being held to place it on record that through the SIR exercise, the voting rights of people are removed," he alleged.
"People inform us that by stating false reasons like a particular voter has shifted to another address or has passed away, the details of a voter along with the details of their family members are removed through this SIR. This is purely an example of abuse of power," he said. Party cadres, holding placards, raised slogans against the conduct of the Special Intensive Revision exercise.
At the protest in Coimbatore, Arunraj acknowledged that conducting SIR is necessary and assumes significance. "But, our only question is that in this rainy season and with Tamil Nadu going to face the assembly elections in 2026, why is there such a hurry to conduct the SIR exercise," he asked.
He raised apprehension about how the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) would be able to make three visits to the houses of 6.4 crore voters in Tamil Nadu and how they are going to verify the submitted forms within a month.
Also read: TVK's Vijay writes to CEC, seeks inclusion in election preps
Follow us
