Even as the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has moved the Supreme Court seeking to halt the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the party has launched an elaborate ground-level and legal counter-strategy to monitor and challenge the process across Tamil Nadu.
The party, which has accused the Election Commission of procedural lapses in the conduct of the SIR, has mobilised its senior-most leaders, legal experts, and booth-level workers to ensure that voters' rights are protected and genuine names are not deleted from the rolls.
According to party sources, the DMK has divided Tamil Nadu into eight zones, each headed by a heavyweight leader - KN Nehru, EV Velu, A Raja, Thangam Thennarasu, MRK Panneerselvam, Sakkarapani, Senthil Balaji, and Kanimozhi - who have been appointed as zonal in-charges to oversee the SIR activities.
District secretaries and constituency observers have been briefed in special sessions in Chennai, while union, town, and village-level office-bearers have received legal training on the SIR process from teams of advocates. The training sessions aim to equip local cadres to identify irregularities and guide voters through the verification and enumeration process.
At the grassroots level, booth committees have been formed and trained in every polling station to collect and verify voter data. The party headquarters has also distributed standardised forms and a dedicated digital application to streamline data collection.
Each zone has been assigned a separate team of lawyers, under the overall supervision of senior advocate and MP NR Elango, to provide immediate legal assistance and advice.
An SIR Help Desk has been set up at the party headquarters in Chennai's Anna Arivalayam, with a public helpline number. Complaints, doubts and queries received at the centre are instantly forwarded to the respective zonal in-charges and legal teams for redressal. Additionally, the headquarters is conducting state-wide follow-up calls to ensure that the SIR is being implemented correctly in every region, and to compile detailed reports on field realities.
In a significant move, the DMK has also instructed its local functionaries to ensure that the names of those who recently joined the party under Tamil Nadu in One Alliance are properly included in the voters' list.
Party insiders describe it as a "dual strategy - legal resistance and field vigilance" to protect every eligible voter's right in Tamil Nadu.
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