Why DMK is sounding alarm over Bihar's voter list revision and its impact on Tamil Nadu
With a stormy monsoon session of the Parliament ahead, the DMK MPs are all set to voice concerns about the Election Commission of India’s special intensive electoral roll revision in Bihar. While no other opposition party, except the RJD in Bihar, has been voicing against the electoral revision, the DMK has decided to take it forward as elections are fast approaching in Tamil Nadu.
On July 17, a batch of DMK MPs, led by Rajya Sabha MP N.R. Elango, called on the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, urging the ECI to accept Aadhaar and the PDS family card issued by the state as documents of proof for date of birth and residence for voter list revision. A day later, this was again resolved at the party’s MPs' meeting on July 19, ahead of the monsoon session of the Parliament.
“We are not opposing the voter list revision as such. As per the constitutional powers, the ECI is empowered to do the electoral revision. We are only against ECI’s present methodology for voter list revision. This doesn’t stop with Bihar, or is not an issue in Bihar alone. We are speaking for the whole of India,” DMK MP, N.R. Elango told THE WEEK.
Referring to the Supreme Court order in the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR), Elango told THE WEEK that the DMK’s demand is that the ECI should accept Aadhar and the family card issued by the state governments as sufficient documents to prove the place of residence and the date of birth. “The methodology or the means to achieve the voter revision is the problem. Now, the ECI has given only 30 days for providing proof of birth. But we have said that the ECI should give ample time for this, and why proof of citizenship for this is our question,” asks Elango.
Incidentally, the DMK fears that the ECI voter list revision, which is underway in Bihar, could soon be replicated in Tamil Nadu, which is all set to go for polls in 2026. Sources say that the names of at least 25,000 Rohingya Muslims and a few lakh Sri Lankan Tamils, who are part of the voter list, will stand removed once the revision comes to Tamil Nadu.
These voters contribute to a percentage of those who vote for the Dravidian majors like the DMK and the AIADMK. Also, the core voters of the DMK are in their late 40s and early 50s, born before 1980s, may not have proper proof of citizenship, like the birth certificate as mandated by the ECI. If birth certificates are made as the mandatory proof of birth, the DMK might stand to lose a chunk of its major voters. On the other hand, the migrant labourers from other states, who are living in Tamil Nadu, could be added to the list, which could prove detrimental for the DMK voter base.
However, the ECI has not responded to the representation made by the DMK, saying the matter is subjudice. In an order based on a petition filed by the opposition parties, the Supreme Court had asked the ECI to consider Aadhaar, voter ID card and ration card as documents of proof during the SIR. The next hearing of the case is scheduled for July 28.
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