Scrap SIR, return to paper ballot: DMK adopts 4 resolutions, will take demands to President Murmu

DMK alleges SIR has led to indiscriminate deletion of voter names, disproportionately affecting marginalised communities, minorities, migrant workers, and young voters.

DMK chief and former Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin | File photo | ANI

Chennai: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Saturday adopted four resolutions demanding the complete scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, a return to paper ballots in place of electronic voting machines (EVMs), and full support for student protests against the exercise. The decisions were taken at a meeting of the party’s Members of Parliament, chaired by DMK president and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin at the party headquarters in Chennai.

“No to SIR that snatches away voting rights! We want the ballot-paper system again,” Stalin wrote in a post on X. The resolutions adopted by the party further escalate the party’s long-standing opposition to the Election Commission (EC) of India’s nationwide voter-list revision drive. The party has also decided to petition President Droupadi Murmu urging corrective action to safeguard voting rights and democratic processes.

The DMK’s primary demand is the immediate and full withdrawal of the SIR exercise. The party alleges that the SIR has led to the systematic exclusion of legitimate voters and deletion of voter names without adequate prior notice or clear criteria, disproportionately affecting marginalised communities, minorities, migrant workers, and young voters. The party wants upcoming elections conducted based on the electoral rolls that existed before the SIR began.

DMK MP and former Union Minister A. Raja told the media after the meeting that the party had been the primary political force consistently opposing the SIR since its inception. “Ever since the SIR came into effect, the DMK has been the primary political party across India to consistently and emphatically oppose and expose it, both inside and outside Parliament,” he said. 

‘Investigate CEC’

Another resolution adopted by the party seeks Gyanesh Kumar’s removal and a formal investigation into his conduct. The DMK accuses him of driving the SIR despite alleged internal opposition from the other two election commissioners, and of overseeing what it describes as the large-scale disenfranchisement of eligible citizens. Stalin and the DMK have repeatedly called for Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, arguing that public confidence in the EC has been undermined.

The DMK also expressed solidarity with student organisations and other groups protesting against the SIR across the country. Adopting a resolution to extend support to the protests, the DMK framed them as a defence of the fundamental right to vote.

The party stated that its MPs will submit a formal representation to the President emphasising its two core demands—complete cancellation of the SIR and the replacement of EVMs with the traditional paper-ballot system. The DMK argues that restoring paper ballots is necessary to rebuild public trust in the electoral process amid widespread doubts about EVMs and the integrity of the current revision drive. 

In a separate resolution, the meeting strongly condemned the Congress party’s “changing stance from state to state” on the SIR issue, saying it opposed the SIR exercise at the national level while remaining restrained in states such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It also criticised the “silence” of Chief Minister Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) on the matter until earlier this week.

Edited by Sunanda Ranjan