Chennai, November 20, 2025 – Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin has intensified his criticism of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), accusing the party of subservience to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for supporting the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls. Stalin's remarks come amid growing concerns over the integrity of the electoral process in the lead-up to the 2026 Assembly elections.
Stalin, a prominent leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has been vocal in his opposition to the SIR, alleging that the BJP is manipulating the Election Commission of India (ECI) to disenfranchise voters unfavorable to the party. He claims the BJP aims to engineer "selective voter cleansing" by removing legitimate voters from the rolls, particularly those from minority communities, working-class backgrounds, and women.
"The AIADMK has become a slave to the BJP," Stalin declared, lambasting the party for its support of the SIR in the Supreme Court. He contrasted the AIADMK's stance with that of other parties across the country who are opposing the SIR, calling the AIADMK's position a "national disgrace".
The SIR, an initiative by the ECI to update and rectify voter rolls, has become a contentious issue in Tamil Nadu. The DMK and its allies in the INDIA bloc have raised concerns about the potential for misuse, citing reports of similar irregularities during voter-list revisions in other states, such as Bihar. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has accused the BJP of already deleting around 6.5 million voter names in Bihar and attempting to replicate this in Tamil Nadu.
Udhayanidhi Stalin has framed the upcoming 2026 elections as a battle to protect Tamil Nadu's land, pride, and mother tongue, emphasizing issues such as Hindi imposition and the impact of delimitation on Tamil representation. He has accused the BJP-led central government of discriminatory funding practices, alleging that Tamil Nadu received no central support for education in the last academic year, while states like Uttar Pradesh and Assam received substantial allocations.
The AIADMK, however, defends its support for the SIR, asserting that it is necessary to remove dead, shifted, and fake voters from the rolls. AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) has alleged that the DMK is obstructing the SIR's progress and that many officials are working against it under the DMK's instructions. He contends that the DMK opposes the SIR because it has failed to remove dead voters' names from the rolls for many years.
The political landscape in Tamil Nadu has seen significant shifts in recent years. The AIADMK and BJP, who were allies in the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2021 Assembly elections, broke ties in 2023 following critical remarks by a BJP leader about AIADMK icons. The split was celebrated by the AIADMK, and both parties contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections independently, where the DMK-led alliance secured a sweeping victory. However, in April 2025, the AIADMK and BJP revived their alliance, drawing strong criticism from the DMK, which accused the AIADMK of betraying the people of Tamil Nadu and failing to recognize the threat of a Hindi-centric national agenda.
Udhayanidhi Stalin has also taken a dig at internal strife within the AIADMK. When asked about developments within the AIADMK, he quipped that EPS should continue as the party's permanent General Secretary.
As the 2026 Assembly elections approach, the debate over the SIR is expected to intensify, with the DMK and AIADMK locked in a battle for public opinion. The DMK is banking on its welfare programs and its commitment to protecting Tamil identity to secure another victory, while the AIADMK, in alliance with the BJP, is hoping to regain lost ground by targeting alleged irregularities in the voter rolls and appealing to voters concerned about the DMK's policies.
