SIR begins in Tamil Nadu amid DMK’s petition in Supreme Court

Amid strong opposition from the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls began in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday (November 4).

The main Opposition, AIADMK, an ally of the BJP, has extended its support to the exercise.

Authorities said Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will guide people in filling up the necessary enumeration forms. House-to-house enumeration will be carried out till December 4, this year, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Tamil Nadu said.

Also Read: Bengal SIR from today: What you should know before BLOs land up at your doorstep

Meanwhile, the DMK, in its plea before the Supreme Court against the SIR, has dubbed the exercise a "de facto NRC" and has challenged its constitutional validity. The ruling party urged the SC to quash the Election Commission's (EC) notification on the SIR dated October 27.

House-to-house exercise

According to the CEO's office, the BLOs will visit every household to distribute partially pre-filled enumeration forms in duplicate to all existing electors and guide them in filling in the form.

"If BLO finds that any house is locked or closed, she/he shall make at least three visits. Electors may also download their enumeration forms and submit the filled-in forms online," an official release from the CEO's office said. BLOs will collect the filled-out forms and provide an acknowledgement in one copy of the enumeration form, which will be retained by the elector.

The dates of the BLOs' visits will be shared in advance and widely publicised in the localities under the jurisdiction of the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs).

Also Read: DMK moves Supreme Court against SIR, says it could disenfranchise lakhs

Official sources said the exercise has commenced, adding that there is some hesitancy among a few personnel to proceed with the drive in view of the opposition from the ruling party, which approached the top court.

Furthermore, the online submissions will also be verified by the BLOs during their house visits. Authorities requested the electors to fill in the details, such as their names or the names of their family members, such as parents or grandparents, in the electoral rolls of the previous SIR.

Final electoral roll

The CEO's office urged electors to seek the assistance of BLOs in filling out the forms and submit the duly filled and signed forms to the BLOs as and when they visit their houses, during the enumeration period from November 4 to December 4.

According to the release, the names of all the electors who submit their duly filled enumeration forms to the BLO during the house-to-house enumeration period will be included in the draft electoral roll, which will be published on December 9. This will include names of electors who submitted the completed and signed forms online also.

Also Read: Vijay slams DMK for using SIR issue to divert attention from corruption charges

In case any elector is unable to submit her/his filled in enumeration form within the specified time, he/she may file Form 6, along with the prescribed declaration form for inclusion during the claims and objections period, which is from December 9 to January 8, 2026, the release said.

The release further stated that the final electoral roll will be published on February 7 after all claims and objections have been considered. "Electors can file an appeal on any decision of the Electoral Registration Officers to the District Magistrate under the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and a second appeal against the decision of the first Appellate Authority to the Chief Electoral Officer in the manner prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960."

DMK's writ petition

In this regard, a meeting was also held by the CEO with representatives of all recognised national/state political parties on October 29, and the process of SIR was explained in detail, the release added.

So far, 39 meetings on the SIR of electoral rolls have been conducted at the District Election Officer level, which were attended by 932 representatives of recognised political parties. At the Electoral Registration Officer level, 241 meetings were conducted, which were attended by 3,346 representatives of recognised political parties.

Also Read: Mamata, Abhishek to protest electoral roll revision in Kolkata on Nov 4

The DMK's writ petition in the apex court said: "It is humbly submitted that a combined reading of the Constitution of India, the ROPA with the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, the Citizenship Act reveals that the burden of establishing citizenship rests with State and not the individual. As such, whether or not a person is an Indian citizen can only be assessed/determined by the Union government and not the respondent (Election Commission). Its constitutional and statutory mandate is to prepare and revise electoral rolls for the conduct of elections. By imposing citizenship-like burdens of proof, the SIR appears to be acting beyond its statutory purpose, effectively functioning as a de facto National Register of Citizens (NRC)."