‘Did Vijay win due to voter deletions?' ask critics as TVK joins anti-SIR protest

The development comes amid the protests against SIR in Delhi and days after Congress and INDIA Bloc leader Rahul Gandhi called on TVK chief and chief minister C Joseph Vijay for an informal lunch followed by coffee.

TVK minister decries SIR, avoids naming BJP

The protest, held in Egmore and led by Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president B Manickam Tagore, saw the participation of leaders from the Congress, VCK, MDMK and Left parties. TVK was represented by School Education Minister A Rajmohan.

Party sources and reports described the participation as significant, marking the first time TVK has joined an INDIA Bloc agitation since the DMK exited the alliance after the Assembly elections. Speaking at the rally, Rajmohan reiterated TVK’s long-standing opposition to SIR, noting that the party had challenged the exercise in the Supreme Court and viewed it as anti-democratic. He stopped short of any direct criticism of the BJP.

Also read: Vijay celebrates TVK bypoll victory; ‘temporary win’, say Stalin, Palaniswami

TVK has previously maintained that removing one election commissioner would not resolve broader concerns about the electoral process, and the demand for Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation has not been the party’s official position.

SIR unseated Stalin, claims Thirumavalavan

In his address, VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan, whose party is an ally of the TVK-led government, alleged that SIR-driven deletions were responsible for DMK president MK Stalin’s defeat in the Kolathur constituency. He claimed that roughly one lakh names were struck off the rolls in Kolathur against around 20,000 recorded deaths, and said he had earlier warned Stalin of a “plot” to unseat him and advised him to contest from another seat.

Thirumavalavan also claimed that the electoral defeats of other Opposition leaders and former chief ministers including Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi, Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal and Pinarayi Vijayan in Keralam were also the result of targeted deletions rather than ordinary electoral outcomes. He alleged that in states where the BJP cannot win on its own, SIR was used to undermine rivals.

‘Did TVK win due to SIR-driven deletions?’

Senior journalist Abdul Muthaleef said the INDIA Bloc in Tamil Nadu was making allegations of electoral defeats due to SIR without presenting any evidence.

Also read: Rahul drops in for lunch and coffee, but will Vijay join the SIR war?

He questioned why the TVK was standing with parties that routinely criticise the ruling dispensation, pointing to contradictions in the narrative: “If SIR and a BJP conspiracy caused Stalin’s loss and other opposition defeats, the same logic would imply TVK’s own victory was also the product of such manipulation, an implication the party has not accepted.”

‘Where’s the proof?’

Political observer Dayalan Shanmugam noted that Thursday’s INDIA Bloc protest featured multiple voices sharing the same stage, observing that leaders who had previously maintained that the SIR was not responsible for Stalin’s defeat were now attributing the loss to it after the Delhi agitation.

Also read: SIR voter deletions: Can INDIA Bloc turn discontent into a movement?

He regretted that no evidence supporting these claims had been placed in the public domain so far, questioning how the public could be expected to accept assertions made only through speeches. Shanmugam further remarked that if SIR were truly flawed, the remarks of fellow alliance leaders appeared to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the TVK government’s own victory, adding that the entire narrative had become as murky as an unclear puddle.