Saravanan Annadurai, the DMK spokesperson, didn’t mince words on Tuesday. He called Rahul Gandhi a "duplicitous man" for highlighting the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in national media while ignoring the electoral roll deletions happening in Tamil Nadu. Annadurai’s tweet, posted on X, cut straight to the heart of the political tension: "Is he afraid of @actorvijay to speak about SIR in Tamil Nadu?"
The question landed with particular weight because Vijay, the massive film star, has historically wielded significant influence over state politics. By linking Gandhi’s silence to the actor, Annadurai implied that the Congress leader was too cautious to challenge the ruling alliance in the state. This sharp critique followed days of heated debate over Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s controversial claim that governments elected after SIR should be dissolved. Kharge, speaking on October 3, had alleged that the entire country was being run on "illegal elections" due to SIR irregularities, a statement that sparked immediate backlash from the BJP.
While Annadurai targeted Gandhi’s rhetoric, the Congress leader was physically present in New Delhi, attempting to pressure the Election Commission. Gandhi, alongside Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Akhilesh Yadav, and other INDIA bloc MPs, marched from Parliament Street toward the EC office. Police stopped the group near Akashvani Bhawan, briefly detaining several leaders including Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O'Brien. The protest turned into a sit-in when Gandhi climbed over a police barricade, waving the Tricolour before moving inside the Akashvani premises with his team.
The BJP quickly seized on Kharge’s earlier comments, with Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju questioning the validity of the opposition’s own mandates. "Are you illegal MP Kharge ji?" Rijiju asked, listing state chief ministers from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala. The exchange highlights a fractured opposition front, where internal disagreements over strategy are now as visible as the opposition to the government’s electoral reforms.
The immediate next step for the INDIA bloc is unclear, as the EC remains unresponsive to the physical protest. However, the DMK’s public distancing signals a significant cooling of relations with the Congress in Tamil Nadu, potentially complicating Gandhi’s efforts to build a unified national opposition narrative ahead of future state polls.