TVK, DMK walk out of Chief Electoral Officer’s meeting on Special Summary Revision in Tamil Nadu

Nine of the 12 recognised national and State political parties that attended a meeting convened by Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik at the Secretariat in Chennai on Friday (October 23, 2026) to discuss the upcoming Special Summary Revision (SSR) of electoral rolls walked out after recording their views and demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The ruling TVK and its allies, as well as the DMK, the principal Opposition party, were among those that staged the walkout. The Election Commission of India (ECI) had invited six recognised national parties such as the Congress, the BJP, the BSP, the AAP, the CPI(M), and the NPP, as well as seven recognised State parties such as the TVK, the DMK, the AIADMK, the CPI, the NTK, the VCK, and the DMDK, to take part in the meeting to discuss the SSR.

Barring the BSP, the other 12 parties participated in the meeting. Representatives of the BJP, the AIADMK, and the NPP were among those who did not stage a walkout, while others walked out at various stages of the meeting, with some recording their views before leaving.

Minister for Energy Resources and Law C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar, who attended the meeting on behalf of the TVK, told reporters after the walkout that the SSR was unnecessary when the errors in the SIR had not yet been rectified. He alleged that a large number of voters had been deleted from the electoral rolls during the SIR. He said his party had passed resolutions and held protests against the SIR even before the elections. He also demanded the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner.

‘SIR had irregularities’

Former DMK MLA I. Paranthaman said the party had conveyed its views, highlighting the concerns of the people, before staging a walkout. He said the SIR exercise had been marked by several irregularities, which the DMK had repeatedly flagged even before the elections. As many as 74 lakh voters had been deleted from the electoral rolls, he said, questioning what steps the ECI had taken to enrol eligible voters.

“The ECI should be people-friendly and facilitate the enrolment of eligible voters. While campaigning for 100% voter turnout, the Commission was, on the other hand, creating obstacles to the inclusion of eligible electors in the electoral rolls,” he alleged.

He said a resolution demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner had already been adopted at a meeting of DMK MPs.

Former VCK MLA S.S. Balaji said the SIR exercise had been justified on the grounds of removing infiltrators from the electoral rolls. However, the ECI had not provided any clarity to the public on how many such persons had been identified, the methods used to identify them or the action taken against them. “Instead, the ECI was proceeding with the subsequent SSR after the SIR as though nothing had happened during the earlier exercise,” he alleged.