Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in a protest outside Chennai city hall on Thursday demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar amid allegations of irregularities in electoral rolls. This was the TVK’s first anti-CEC protest since it became a part of the INDIA alliance on October 3.
Organized by Congress MP B Manickam Tagore and the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC), the protest was dubbed as “Protect Democracy”. Contestations were voiced regarding the irregularities thrown up in the voters’ list and the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
The demonstration was attended by the leaders representing all seven constituent parties. The protest took place as part of on-going protests in New Delhi over allegations of electoral rolls and voter-list revision in the country.
Now, TVK’s presence indicates that it is involved in opposition activities just now that it joined the opposition alliance INDIA. The accusations brought forward by the protesters, however, are just accusations put forward by opposition.
The development arrives days after Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in Chennai on October 10 met with Vijay. TVK chief and the chief minister of Tamil Nadu Vijay met with Gandhi and discussed political coordination.
Congress leaders say Gandhi had invited Vijay and his party to attend subsequent consultations, campaigns and protests against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
TVK’s presence on Thursday at the demonstration was another sign the caretotor eelgrass has been making at rallying with opposition alliance. The protest also assembled leaders of various constituent parties around issues of the working of the Election Commission and the maintenance of electoral rolls.
The opposition demands accountability for the irregularities and the SIR process, and the political debate over SIR at national and state levels goes on.