DMK, Congress Clash Over SIR as TVK Joins INDIA Bloc Protest

The DMK headquarters issued a strongly worded statement on October 12 criticizing Congress MP Manickam Tagore for attacking the party's stance on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The DMK accused Tagore of undermining the opposition alliance ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections and questioned whether the Congress national leadership endorsed his position.

The party challenged Tagore to explain why Congress ally TVK, led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay, had not joined the Delhi protest demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's removal. This challenge came days before TVK participated in its first INDIA bloc protest in Chennai on October 15.

“The DMK's April 2026 electoral defeat was an "artificial loss" engineered by the Central government.”

The Chennai demonstration saw TVK join INDIA bloc constituents in demanding Gyanesh Kumar's removal and opposing alleged electoral roll manipulation. TVK leader and School Education Minister A. Rajmohan emphasized his party's "relentless opposition" to the SIR from the start and noted the party had challenged its implementation in the Supreme Court.

The protest exposed faultlines within the opposition alliance. VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan declared the DMK's April 2026 electoral defeat an "artificial loss" engineered by the Central government. TVK had previously blamed the DMK for removing 74 lakh voters from the rolls, claiming the party would have won over 160 seats instead of 108.

Congress had already rejected the DMK's claim that voter deletions under SIR caused its defeat, noting the DMK had maintained before the elections that it prevented name deletions in the state. Congress and VCK were pre-poll partners of the DMK that later joined the TVK-led government in May.