Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi waves the national flag while standing atop police barricades during a protest march from the Parliament towards the Election Commission of India (ECI) office, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, outside RBI office in New Delhi on Tuesday (October 6). Photo: PTI
‘Afraid of Vijay?’: DMK questions Rahul Gandhi’s ‘silence’ on TN SIR
DMK spokesperson asks Rahul why he was not endorsing Congress president Kharge’s reported call for dissolution of state governments elected after SIR
As Congress and other INDIA Bloc allies attempted to march towards the Election Commission headquarters in New Delhi on Tuesday (October 6), demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the DMK, once a key ally of the Congress, sought to know what Rahul Gandhi's stand was on the exercise in Tamil Nadu.
DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai, in a post on X, asked: “What is the stand of Rahul Gandhi with regard to the deletions through SIR in Tamil Nadu?” He also questioned why Rahul was not endorsing Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s reported call for the dissolution of state governments elected after SIR.
Also read: SIR explained: From voter deletions to Form 6, what has changed?
Taking a dig at the Congress-TVK alliance in Tamil Nadu, Saravanan asked Rahul if he wasn’t broaching the topic of SIR in the state for fear of Chief Minister and ally C Joseph Vijay.
“Is he afraid of @actorvijay to speak about SIR in Tamil Nadu. What a duplicitous man,” Annadurai said.
Soured ties
The remarks came as Rahul led INDIA Bloc MPs in a march from Parliament towards the Election Commission headquarters in Delhi, demanding Kumar’s resignation. The march was stopped by police, with several Opposition MPs briefly detained.
The DMK stayed away from Tuesday’s INDIA Bloc protest, although the party has indicated that it supports the Opposition’s concerns over SIR. It had also skipped the bloc’s strategy meeting last week on the issue.
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The latest exchange reflects the sharp deterioration in relations between the DMK and Congress after the April 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. Congress broke ties with the DMK after the polls and joined hands with C Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), which formed the government. The DMK subsequently withdrew from the INDIA Bloc, following the development.
SIR in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu’s SIR, conducted between October 2025 and February 2026, saw nearly 70 lakh names deleted from the electoral roll, while more than 27 lakh new voters were added. The final roll was published on February 23.
The DMK has previously raised concerns over deletions during the exercise, including in Chennai’s Kolathur constituency, where party president MK Stalin lost to TVK’s VS Babu in the Assembly election. However, Congress and Rahul have not responded to Annadurai’s latest remarks.