Chennai: The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), a key ally of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)-led government in Tamil Nadu, has alleged that the party’s victory may have been influenced by the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in the state. The claim echoes concerns raised by the opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), whose leaders have made similar statements in the past.
Speaking after participating in an Opposition protest against the Election Commission of India in New Delhi on Tuesday, Lok Sabha MP and VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan said, “SIR created a three-cornered contest in Tamil Nadu and that led to the ultimate result. It is possible that TVK’s victory in Tamil Nadu could have been impacted due to the SIR, as it has done in other states. This is what I said at the time of the result and I stand by it.”
His remarks reflect broader Opposition criticism of the SIR exercise, which involved large-scale deletions and additions to electoral rolls ahead of the state Assembly elections. Opposition parties have alleged that the exercise disproportionately affected certain communities and their voter bases across multiple states.
The SIR process in Tamil Nadu resulted in approximately 97.3 lakh names being removed from the draft electoral rolls, reducing the electorate from about 6.41 crore to 5.43 crore. Official data attributed the deletions primarily to 66.4 lakh voters marked as shifted or absent, 26.9 lakh listed as deceased, and around 4 lakh identified as duplicates.
VCK General Secretary D. Ravikumar told ThePrint that the party was not directly questioning TVK’s victory but believed the SIR exercise could have influenced the Assembly election results.
“When they started the SIR in Bihar and Tamil Nadu, we filed individual cases in the Supreme Court against SIR. We have repeatedly said it is an anti-people activity and in Tamil Nadu, over 97 lakh voters were deleted,” he said. He added that most of the deleted voters belong to SC/ST communities or other minority groups. “These are the voters for non-BJP parties. We have no proof that TVK won because of the SIR. However, since the exercise affected the outcome of the elections in many states, it is possible it happened in Tamil Nadu,” said Ravikumar.
He said he had visited several booths during the SIR exercise and found that forms were given only to people who were available, while the homes of many others were not visited. “People in villages go for work in the morning and come late in the evening and might not have been covered under SIR. That cannot be classified as untraceable and given as a reason to delete their names. Most of the field workers for SIR are local anganwadi workers, women and teachers who have also accepted these concerns and pointed them out when asked about the same,” Ravikumar told ThePrint.
He further said that since the TVK’s vote bank is urban oriented and includes a wide section of marginalised people, it is possible that the exercise “could have affected their own vote bank, but SIR must have certainly impacted the elections”.
This is not the first time the VCK has taken a position that highlighted its differences with the Chief Minister C. Vijay Joseph-led TVK. After the VCK extended support to TVK in May 2026 to help form the government and prevent President’s Rule, Thirumavalavan continued to make public remarks underscoring the parties’ ideological differences.
He had alleged links between TVK and the RSS while clarifying that the VCK’s support was pragmatic. He also joined the Opposition in criticising Vijay’s gesture in the Assembly, which was seen as mocking former chief minister M.K. Stalin, calling it “unbecoming and undignified”. More recently, he opposed the privatisation of meter-reading work in the electricity department.
At the same time, the VCK has actively campaigned for TVK candidates in bypolls that were held after the Assembly elections. This marks a contrast with the CPI and CPI(M), which contested the bypolls independently.
While Thirumavalavan has publicly affirmed that the VCK will support the TVK government for its full term, his remarks on SIR and other issues have highlighted the tensions within the alliance. The contrasting positions have also led some party members to argue that outside support may have been preferable to full participation in the government, given the ideological differences between the two parties.
(Edited by Chingkheinganbi Mayengbam)