Tamil Nadu is gearing up for a large-scale revision of its electoral rolls, with nearly 75,000 officials set to be deployed for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise scheduled to commence within a week. The Election Commission of India (ECI) informed the Madras High Court on Friday that the process will begin shortly, as the state administration finalizes arrangements to ensure thorough verification at every polling booth.
According to officials from the Public (Elections) Department, groundwork for the operation has been completed. State Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik, who recently attended a two-day consultative meeting with the ECI in New Delhi, confirmed that the process would combine door-to-door verification by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) with digital updates via a new mobile-integrated platform. A total of 75,000 personnel, including BLOs, supervisors, and district-level officers, will oversee the mammoth operation.
While the administrative framework is in place, the political response has been divided. The ruling DMK and its allies have voiced apprehensions about the fairness of the exercise, citing alleged irregularities reported in Bihar’s SIR process. DMK MP NR Elango said that his party supports clean electoral rolls but urged the ECI to ensure transparency, adequate time for corrections, and no scope for manipulation. Congress’s Tamil Nadu unit chief K Selvaperunthagai meanwhile argued that such a drive was unnecessary, stating that “Tamil Nadu’s politically aware electorate will not permit wrongdoing in the name of SIR.”
Other opposition voices were less restrained. VCK MP D Ravikumar called for Chief Minister M K Stalin to convene an all-party meeting to discuss concerns, accusing the ECI of failing to clarify allegations made during similar exercises elsewhere. CPI state secretary M Veerapandian echoed these sentiments, charging that the Commission had “compromised its neutrality under the Union government’s pressure.”
In contrast, opposition parties like the AIADMK and BJP have supported the SIR move. AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Sathyan alleged that the ruling DMK fears the process as it might expose “tens of thousands of bogus voters” allegedly added to Chennai’s rolls. BJP state president Nainar Nagenthran defended the ECI, saying the Bihar allegations proved baseless and that DMK’s opposition “stems from fear of losing power” in 2026. Meanwhile, the ECI assured the Madras High Court that all grievances raised by political parties will be addressed once the SIR begins.