MK Stalin on SIR: Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Monday filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the Special Intensive Revision process.

The move comes after the Election Commission of India (ECI) last week issued orders for the next phase of SIR of voter lists in 12 states and union territories, which will cover a total of 51 crore voters.

Nomination work will start from November 4

The nomination process for this phase will begin from November 4 and the final voter list will be published on February 7, 2026, with January 1, 2026, as the base date. Assembly elections are to be held in the five states/union territories next year in April-May 2026. West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are included in the list of 12 states where the SIR process will run in the next three months. However, Assam, which is one of the election states, is not included in this list.

CM M.K. Stalin accused ECI of conspiracy

On Monday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin accused the Election Commission (ECI) of a conspiracy and said the SIR was a malicious attempt aimed at removing opposition voters.

Stalin said, “To stop this undemocratic step, we called an all-party meeting and passed a resolution condemning the SIR. The complete revision of the voter list by the Election Commission a few months before the elections is a deliberate strategy to remove legitimate voters.”

Big allegation made giving example of Bihar

CM Stalin alleged that a similar process was adopted in Bihar also, where lakhs of genuine voters were removed from the list. He said that the first opposition to this controversial process started from Tamil Nadu, after which Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and opposition leaders of Bihar also opposed it. Stalin said, “Even after the legal case was registered, the Election Commission did not give any satisfactory answer”.

AIADMK and BJP also targeted

Stalin met AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. He also made a scathing attack on Palaniswami and said that he was playing a double game and was afraid of the Election Commission because of his links with BJP. He further said that migrant laborers from Bihar have got respect and employment in Tamil Nadu, but the Prime Minister is “doing political drama for electoral gains in Bihar.”

The controversy that started on the verification of the voter list in Bihar is not taking the name of stopping. In Darbhanga, a Congress leader has shared a video, which the opposition is telling an open proof of the collusion of the Election Commission and BJP. The video is from a government school in Darbhanga, where the BLO of the polling station is sitting and next to him, the women’s district president Sapna Bharti is sitting. The Congress leader who made the video questioned the presence of the BJP leader, after which there was a debate on the camera between the two and this video went viral. Tejashwi Yadav shared the video and wrote, “Does any more direct evidence require?” As the dispute escalated, the District Election Officer clarified that the BJP leaders had come to submit documents of their family members, while the BJP woman leader says that she was helping the women of the locality. This year elections are to be held in Bihar and next year in West Bengal. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took out a protest march in Kolkata and said that those who speak Bengali are trying to snatch their rights by calling them Bangladeshi Rohingya and they are being arrested. Mamta Banerjee said that if the Election Commission demands amendment in the voter list before the assembly elections, it will be opposed. At the same time, BJP says that this is very important to happen. BJP leaders clearly say that “We have only one thing in Bihar, start immediately in Bengal. And the scam delete all the names of Rohingya Muslims in it.” BJP believes that in the coming days, situations like Bihar may be seen in West Bengal.

Asaduddin Owaisi on Bihar Voters List: Hyderabad MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision that has been instructed to recognize 11 documents as well as three more documents – Aadhaar card, voter ID (EPIC) and ration card along with 11 documents already existing for voter verification in Bihar elections. Owaisi has described it as ‘an important step’ towards strengthening the voter verification process.

Not only records, strong evidence of identity
The Supreme Court has clarified in its order that these three documents can be used not only for records, but as proof of birth date and place of birth. Owaisi said that this decision follows the legal vision of the 1995 Babu Lal Hussain case and should be fully implemented.

AIMIM’s petition and legal effort
On this issue, AIMIM’s Bihar President Akhtarul Iman filed a petition in the Supreme Court. Senior advocate Mohammad Nizam Pasha advocated on his behalf. Owaisi appreciated this legal effort and said that this step has been taken to protect the rights of voters of Bihar.

Bihar Election “Intensive Revision”: The Supreme Court Ordered that, in addition to 11 documents listed by the election commission of India, 3 more should be considered: Aadhaar, EPIC & Ration cards. This is a welcome order, and we hope that precedent set in the 1995… pic.twitter.com/hcbkxa0wy5

– Asaduddin Owaisi (@Asadowaisi) July 11, 2025

Questions raised on ECI’s ‘misinterpretation’
However, Owaisi has questioned some ‘sources’ of the Election Commission (ECI). He says that these people are misinterpreting the order of the Supreme Court and considering it limited to keeping it only. He reiterated that this order is to make voter verification transparent and reliable.

Part of intensive revision process in Bihar
This order has come under the ongoing Intensive Revision process in Bihar, which aims to make the voter list updated and accurate. Owaisi said that this decision will strengthen voter identity not only in Bihar, but in the whole country.

AIMIM’s appeal – keep the documents ready
AIMIM has appealed to the voters to keep their documents – Aadhaar, Voter ID and Ration Card ready so that there is no obstruction in the verification process. The party has also spoken of spreading awareness on this issue.