Chennai : Members of Parliament representing the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) began arriving at the party headquarters, Anna Arivalayam, on Saturday morning ahead of a parliamentary party meeting to be chaired by DMK President and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin.
The meeting comes amid continued protests in New Delhi by Opposition leaders, INDIA bloc parties and student organisations against the Election Commission's SIR exercise and its handling of the electoral process.
A day earlier, DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi on Friday criticised the Union government over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that voters were being deprived of their voting rights and accusing the Centre of lacking faith in the Constitution.
Kanimozhi was speaking at a protest organised by multiple people's movements in Chennai against the SIR exercise, with demonstrators also demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
"Ever since the Union government came to power, anyone who questions it is branded as being anti-national. They have no faith in Parliament. They keep reducing the number of days Parliament is in session," she said.
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Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she said, "The Prime Minister attends Parliament for only a limited number of days. Whenever Parliament is in session, the Prime Minister is abroad. I do not know whether they have reduced the number of parliamentary working days because he is unable to be present."
The DMK MP further alleged that the present Union government appeared to have no faith in the Constitution.
"It seems that the present Union government is unlike any government we have seen before, in that it appears to have no faith in the Constitution," she said.
Raising concerns over alleged deletions from electoral rolls, Kanimozhi claimed that around one lakh voters had been removed from the rolls in the Kolathur constituency, while the actual number of names that should have been deleted was only around 20,000. She also alleged electoral manipulation in Maharashtra, claiming that voter names were removed in ways that benefited the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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"Everyone whose name has been removed must be given justice, and their names must be reinstated on the electoral rolls," she added.
Speaking to reporters after the gathering, Kanimozhi said the DMK had consistently opposed the SIR exercise and warned that it could lead to people losing their voting rights.
"Definitely, the DMK has been warning people against the SIR. We've been warning that people will be losing their voting rights. Even before the elections, our leader MK Stalin has been warning. We've been completely against this exercise of SIR," she said.
Welcoming the participation of young people in the protest, she added, "It gives a lot of confidence when the youth of this country have come together to protest against this, and DMK stands with them.
The protest comes amid an ongoing political confrontation between the BJP and opposition parties over alleged irregularities in electoral rolls and the SIR exercise.
Earlier on Thursday, the Congress-led INDIA bloc held a protest in Chennai demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The demonstration was attended by leaders of several constituent parties, including the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Communist Party of India (CPI) and Communist Party of India (Marxist).
The TVK, led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay, joined the protest for the first time since the party joined the INDIA bloc on October 3. Opposition leaders have accused the Election Commission of acting in favour of the BJP and have called for accountability over alleged irregularities in the electoral process.