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The people’s newsroom

PoliticsElection Commission

Ruling TVK and DMK walk out of Tamil Nadu poll officer's meeting on roll revision

Nine of the 12 parties at Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik's all-party meeting in Chennai left in protest against the SIR and CEC Gyanesh Kumar. AIADMK and BJP stayed.

From the editorial desk · ChennaiPublished
The Tamil Nadu Secretariat at Fort St George, Chennai (file photo)
The Tamil Nadu Secretariat at Fort St George, Chennai (file photo)Photo: L.vivian.richard at en.wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Key points

  1. Nine of the 12 parties present walked out of the all-party meeting on the Special Summary Revision.
  2. The ruling TVK, the DMK, Congress and the Left demanded the resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar.
  3. The Special Summary Revision of Tamil Nadu's rolls is due to begin on 12 November.

Most of Tamil Nadu’s political parties, including the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and the opposition DMK, walked out of an all-party meeting called by the state’s Chief Electoral Officer, Archana Patnaik, in Chennai on Friday, in protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The meeting, held at the Secretariat, had been called to discuss the Special Summary Revision (SSR) of the state’s rolls, which is due to begin on 12 November. Over roughly a month, eligible voters will be able to apply to have their names added, with claims and objections reported to be open until 11 December.

Who walked out

Nine of the 12 parties at the meeting left. The TVK, the Congress and the VCK walked out together, as did the CPI and the CPI(M). The DMK and the DMDK left after putting their views on record. Naam Tamilar Katchi and the Aam Aadmi Party also walked out.

The TVK, headed by Chief Minister Vijay, is a partner in the INDIA bloc. Its delegation included minister Nirmal Kumar, while the DMK was represented by MLA Austin and former MLA Parandhaman.

The AIADMK, represented by Jayakumar, the BJP and the National People’s Party stayed and took part in the discussion. The Bahujan Samaj Party did not attend.

What the parties want

The parties that walked out demanded that Gyanesh Kumar resign. They objected to what they called the mass deletion of voters during the SIR, asked what would be done to restore the names struck off in Tamil Nadu, and called for the irregularities in the exercise to be corrected.

The Election Commission had invited all 12 recognised parties in the state. Neither the CEO’s office nor the Commission had responded to the walkout by Friday afternoon.

Why it matters

The walkout puts the state government’s own party on the same side as its main rival against the Election Commission, just weeks before the SSR opens. The revision is the window in which voters can apply to have their names added to the rolls.