Chennai: DMK , on Saturday, demanded a return to ballot papers, asserting that it was necessary to restore public faith in the electoral process, and called for the removal of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
DMK alleged that Congress was adopting “double standards” by opposing SIR at the national level while remaining silent on its impact in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It said it would not join the “backstabber” Congress in protests and warned the party’s leadership against invoking DMK’s name. “Vijay did not say anything about SIR after the elections, nor did he participate in any meeting or protest organised by the INDIA bloc,” the party said. It further alleged that TVK minister Rajmohan, who participated in a protest by the INDIA bloc, did not mention BJP, the Election Commission or Gyanesh Kumar, accusing the party of adopting “double standards”.
DMK also criticised TVK leader and chief minister C Joseph Vijay for not demanding the removal of Gyanesh Kumar.
This suspicion is further strengthened by reports of discrepancies between the votes recorded by EVMs and the corresponding VVPAT slip counts at many places,” a resolution adopted at the meeting said. Recalling its support for the protests, including the CJP-led agitation in Delhi, and the participation of its leaders in demonstrations in Chennai, DMK said Congress had a history of taking credit for the efforts of others. At a meeting of the party’s parliamentary wing chaired by DMK president M K Stalin at the party headquarters, DMK resolved to submit a representation to President Droupadi Murmu seeking the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Parliamentary party leader Kanimozhi Rajathi Karunanidhi and DMK MPs from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha attended the meeting. “The credibility of EVMs across the country is in question. DMK alleged that the SIR exercise was carried out in haste ahead of elections in several states and resulted in the systematic deletion of voters. It demanded that the process be scrapped in its entirety and that the chief election commissioner be subjected to an inquiry. The party also accused the Congress of attempting to appropriate the youth-led protests against BJP and SIR.
It also demanded that future elections be held using the electoral roll that existed before the SIR exercise.