October of agitation: INDIA bloc schedules statewide demos, march to ECI demanding CEC's resignation over voter-roll revision

CHENNAI: The INDIA bloc has announced an escalation in its campaign against the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with district-level demonstrations planned across Tamil Nadu on October 13 and 14, a major protest on October 15, and a march by alliance MPs to the Commission's headquarters in New Delhi on October 6. The announcement came from Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president B. Manickam Tagore on Saturday after a multi-party coordination meeting at Sathyamurthy Bhavan in Chennai. He also confirmed the entry of Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) into the bloc in Tamil Nadu, calling it a "historic day" for opposition consolidation and saying it would significantly strengthen the anti-BJP front in the state. Tagore said the October 13 and 14 demonstrations would demand the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the SIR exercise. The statewide agitation follows days of protest in the national capital, where opposition parties have accused the poll body of skewing electoral rolls through the revision. "TVK's inclusion would bolster the collective opposition in Tamil Nadu," Tagore said, adding that the fight against the RSS-BJP and what he termed the misrule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah was "going to be an interesting fight in Tamil Nadu as well." Asked about the DMK's absence from the coordination meeting, Tagore rejected suggestions of any internal rift and said the alliance remained an open platform for all political forces opposing the ruling dispensation at the Centre. "The INDIA bloc is a collective struggle against the policies of the RSS, BJP, Amit Shah, and Modi, which are detrimental to Indian democracy," he said, adding that the DMK leadership continued to be actively engaged with the national platform. The protest calendar comes as Tamil Nadu heads to the polls for the Dharapuram and Madurantakam bypolls on October 6, with counting scheduled for October 9, making the fight over the fairness of the rolls part of the immediate political battle in the state.