Vijay's Party Stages State-Wide Protest Against SIR in TN, Slams DMK's Handling

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The Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK), a party led by actor-politician Vijay, held a state-wide protest in Tamil Nadu on Sunday against the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The party's leaders, including state general secretary N Anand and senior leader Adhav Arjuna, led the demonstrations in Chennai, criticizing the ruling DMK for its handling of the SIR exercise. The TVK alleges that the SIR exercise is aimed at removing the voting rights of people, with Anand stating that the protest is not just about a small demand, but about placing on record the concerns of the people. The party targeted the DMK for not passing a resolution against SIR in the state legislative assembly, with Arjuna asking why the DMK was not taking a strong stance against the exercise. The DMK, on the other hand, questioned the TVK's decision to skip an all-party meeting held on November 2 to discuss how to fight the SIR exercise. Senior DMK leader TKS Elangovan said that the party was fighting the SIR exercise both legally and on the ground, and that the TVK's absence from the meeting was puzzling. The DMK has moved the Supreme Court against the SIR exercise and has been protesting along with its allies, the Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA). Meanwhile, the main opposition AIADMK and its ally BJP have backed the SIR exercise, with the BJP saying that the loss of Prashant Kishor in Bihar should serve as a lesson for Vijay. The party's senior leader, Tamilisai Soundararajan, said that instead of protesting, Vijay could have used his party's strength to help people fill forms for SIR. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has distributed 5.9 crore enumeration forms to voters in Tamil Nadu, accounting for 92.04% of the total 6.36 crore voters in the state. The ECI has stated that the forms will be used to update the electoral rolls ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.