TVK and DMK walk out of Tamil Nadu Election Commission meeting on voter rolls

Representatives from nine political parties, including the TVK and opposition DMK, walked out of an all-party meeting convened by Tamil Nadu Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik in Chennai on Friday.

The meeting was called at the Secretariat to consult political organisations on the upcoming Special Summary Revision (SSR) of electoral rolls. The Election Commission of India (ECI) conducts these summary revisions as a routine administrative measure to ensure voter lists remain accurate by adding newly eligible voters and removing invalid entries.

Out of 13 recognised national and state parties invited to the consultation, 12 attended. However, representatives from nine parties staged walkouts at various stages, alleging irregularities in the earlier Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Concerns raised by walking out parties

DMK Legal Wing Joint Secretary I. Paranthaman questioned the outcome of the earlier intensive revision, claiming that more than 74 lakh voters were deleted from the rolls during the process. He stated that the party had already passed resolutions seeking the Chief Election Commissioner's resignation.

Tamil Nadu Law Minister C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar, attending on behalf of the ruling TVK, argued that conducting a fresh summary revision without addressing concerns from the previous exercise was premature. Representatives from the Congress, VCK, and Left parties also joined the walkout, stating they would not participate in formal discussions under the current commission leadership.

Constructive participation by AIADMK and BJP

While several parties chose to leave, representatives from the AIADMK and the BJP stayed to place their recommendations directly before electoral authorities.

Former minister D. Jayakumar of the AIADMK explained that his party chose to participate to ensure concrete facts were recorded. Citing official commission figures from the previous revision, he noted that approximately 97 lakh voter entries had been flagged across the state. This included 26 lakh deceased electors, 52 lakh shifted voters, four lakh duplicate records, and 13 lakh permanently relocated citizens.

Jayakumar urged the Election Commission to process these updates transparently and requested that planned voter verification camps in November be rescheduled to accommodate the upcoming monsoon season. The Election Commission maintains that summary revisions are vital periodic updates aimed at safeguarding democratic integrity and maintaining comprehensive voter rolls.