DMK backs student protests against CEC Gyanesh Kumar, accuses Congress and TVK of ‘double standards’

The DMK’s meeting focused on alleged irregularities in the special intensive revision of electoral rolls, or SIR. The party adopted a resolution seeking Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s removal. It also demanded an inquiry into his conduct and supported student organisations protesting against the CEC and the SIR exercise.

The party passed four resolutions and adopted three demands. Its demands were complete cancellation of the SIR, restoration of ballot-paper voting instead of EVMs, and submission of a petition to the President. Another resolution called for a petition seeking corrective measures over electoral irregularities.

The resolutions show that the DMK is challenging both voter-roll revision and the current voting system. The party also condemned Congress and TVK for alleged double standards. It plans to pursue the issue through protests, party action, and a petition to the President.

A Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, is a focused exercise to examine and update electoral rolls. Election officials verify entries, identify eligible voters, and remove records considered ineligible, duplicated, or otherwise incorrect. The aim is to make voter lists accurate before elections.

The exercise directly affects access to voting because electoral rolls determine who is registered at each polling location. If an eligible person’s name is missing, that person may be unable to cast a vote. The DMK alleges that voters were systematically deleted during the first SIR in Bihar, and it has opposed extending the exercise.

The Election Commission announced SIR in 12 states in October 2025, including Tamil Nadu. DMK president MK Stalin had criticised the exercise earlier and joined a Bihar Voter Adhikar Yatra. The dispute now concerns whether the revision should be cancelled and how electoral irregularities should be addressed.

The Chief Election Commissioner is the senior member of India’s Election Commission, the constitutional authority responsible for supervising elections. The office oversees the preparation of electoral rolls and the conduct of elections to Parliament, state legislatures, and the offices of President and Vice-President. It therefore has a central role in protecting the voting process.

Under Article 324, the Election Commission directs and controls election administration. The CEC works with the other Election Commissioners, although the Constitution provides special protection for the CEC’s removal. This protection is intended to help the authority act independently rather than respond to political pressure.

The CEC can be removed by the President only after both Houses of Parliament approve an address supported by the required special majority. The process follows the procedure used to remove a Supreme Court judge. The article reports the DMK’s demand for Gyanesh Kumar’s removal, but does not describe any removal proceedings.

The Election Commission’s October 2025 announcement covered 12 states, including Tamil Nadu. The move followed the first SIR exercise in Bihar, where reports had emerged of a large number of voters allegedly being systematically deleted from electoral rolls.

This wider rollout matters because the exercise would affect voter lists beyond Bihar. The DMK meeting recorded that MK Stalin had opposed SIR in July 2025 and later objected when the Commission announced the 12-state plan. He alleged that the BJP was trying to extend its alleged conspiracy, while the DMK described itself as one of the country’s strongest opponents of SIR.

The expansion has also widened political disagreement. DMK MPs accused Congress of criticising SIR while not speaking about it in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The party argued that if irregularities occurred, the same concerns should apply in every state. The article does not give a state-by-state schedule.

Electoral rolls determine whether people are registered to vote at their polling locations. If an eligible voter’s name is wrongly deleted, that person may be turned away or otherwise unable to cast a ballot. The immediate harm is the loss of an individual’s participation in the election.

The wider effect depends on the scale and distribution of the deletions. If many eligible voters are removed, the votes counted may not reflect the preferences of the full eligible population. Deletions concentrated in particular communities or areas could alter turnout patterns and potentially influence results. The article reports allegations of systematic deletions in Bihar but does not establish their final impact.

That concern is central to the DMK’s opposition to SIR. The party demanded complete cancellation, an inquiry into the CEC’s conduct, and corrective action through a petition to the President. It also backed student protests, keeping attention on the accuracy and fairness of electoral rolls.

Electronic voting machines record voters’ choices electronically at polling stations. Paper ballots use physical sheets on which voters mark their selected candidate or option. Both systems require procedures to identify voters, secure the vote, and count ballots, but the recording and counting mechanisms differ.

A return to paper ballots would involve producing and transporting ballot papers, providing secure ballot boxes, protecting marked papers, and counting them after polling. Election authorities would also need rules for valid and invalid marks, recounts, and custody of the papers. These are general implications of changing systems; the article gives no implementation plan.

The DMK’s second demand was to restore ballot-paper voting in place of EVMs. The demand was adopted alongside calls to cancel SIR and petition the President. The article links the voting-machine demand to the party’s broader concerns about electoral irregularities, but it provides no evidence comparing the systems or timeline for any change.

Electoral rolls are official lists of people registered to vote in particular areas. Election authorities create them through registration and update them when voters become eligible, move, die, or are otherwise no longer qualified. A revision such as SIR involves a more focused review of existing entries. The goal is to include eligible voters and remove inaccurate records.

Checking requires comparing applications and records, verifying voter details, and giving people ways to identify or challenge errors. If checks fail, eligible citizens can disappear from the rolls. The DMK meeting referred to alleged systematic deletions in Bihar and demanded cancellation of SIR, an inquiry, and corrective measures.

An independent election authority helps ensure that voter registration and elections are administered fairly. It can make decisions without taking instructions from competing parties. In this dispute, the DMK is questioning the CEC’s conduct while seeking institutional remedies. The article shows why public confidence depends on accurate rolls and trusted oversight.