Actor-filmmaker Prakash Raj has raised concerns over the Election Commission's voter-list revision process, questioning why he was asked to submit Form 6 after claiming that his voter status had been marked as “permanently shifted”. Raj said officials later contacted him and assured him that the issue would be corrected, but he continued to question the procedure and the handling of his voter registration.
Raj Questions Change In Voter Status
Speaking about the issue, Raj said Election Commission officials contacted him after he raised the matter. According to him, his status was subsequently changed from “permanently shifted” to “shifted”.
He said officials told him that his name had not been deleted from the electoral roll and that he could submit Form 6. However, Raj questioned why such a form was necessary if his name was still on record.
"I said, 'Why do I need Form 6? If I sign and give you Form 6, that means I accept that you've deleted it," Raj said.
Raj claimed that he instead submitted Form 8, but alleged that it was not accepted. According to the actor, the Election Commission maintained that he should submit Form 6, something he said he was unwilling to do.
"I am not going to fill up Form 6. I will start from the bottom," he said.
Actor Questions Decision To Send BLO To Old Residence
Raj also said the Election Commission decided to send a Booth Level Officer (BLO) to his former residence after he raised the matter.
"....Why would you send the BLO?" he asked, alleging that the development raised questions about the process.
"It shows there is daal mein kuch kaala hai, bhai," Raj said.
He added that he had taken up the issue with the Election Commission through the media and would wait for a response before deciding on his next move.
"We will wait one or two days. If they don't, then we will start protests. Then the whole state, the country will come together. Because today, accountability is the question," Raj said.
Raj Addresses Allegations Of Multiple Voter IDs
Responding to allegations concerning multiple voter IDs, Raj said the matter dated back to 2018. He claimed that he had previously informed the Election Commission that he possessed a voter ID in Chennai, where he had lived for around 20 years.
According to Raj, he later submitted Form 7 to have his Chennai voter registration deleted after applying for a voter ID elsewhere. He said the Election Commission subsequently examined the matter and informed him that the other entries were fake.
Raj further claimed that correspondence submitted before a court showed that the Election Commission had directed in 2019 that only one vote belonging to him should remain on record.
"The tragedy is I have lost my only vote now," Raj alleged.
Prakash Raj Criticises Special Intensive Revision Process
Raj also renewed his criticism of the Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, saying he had opposed the exercise from the outset and had concerns about how voter verification was being conducted.
He said there was now enough time to question the process and challenge what he described as its shortcomings.
"I am not interested in discovering whether state government has to do it, central government has to do it. The Election Commission works under the central government. So it is their politics, their agenda," the actor said.
Earlier, Raj had also criticised the SIR process in a video post on X, alleging that particular voters were being targeted.
"You may choose and deny voting rights of few citizens who may not elect you back to thrown... but can you stop us from eventually bringing you down from your thrown," he wrote.
He alleged that the revision exercise was not intended solely to clean up the electoral roll, but was instead being used to disenfranchise voters critical of the ruling establishment.
"Outing rights", a reference to the right to vote and participate in elections, "are being snatched through SIR," he claimed, while maintaining that citizens would respond through democratic means.
Opposition parties and activists have also voiced concerns that the SIR exercise could lead to wrongful deletions, particularly affecting migrant workers, students and marginalised communities.
The Election Commission, however, has maintained that the exercise is a routine process aimed at keeping electoral rolls clean and accurate.
(With inputs from ANI)