Chennai: Demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, major parties including DMK, Congress, CPI and CPM walked out of the all-party meeting on special summary revision (SSR) of electoral rolls at Ripon Buildings here on Monday.This comes days after members of TVK, DMK, Congress, and other parties walked out of the all-party meeting on SSR in the secretariat on Oct 23, making similar demand.The meeting on Monday, chaired by the district election officer and Greater Chennai Corporation commissioner G S Sameeran, was to discuss the SSR of electoral rolls, with Jan 1, 2027 as the qualifying date, and changes to polling station arrangements across the district’s 16 assembly constituencies. The number of polling stations has been reduced from 4,079 to 4,071. This reduced one in Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar, merged five polling stations in Chepauk-Triplicane, two in Thousand Lights and two in Mylapore constituency.Before the meeting formally began, DMK and Congress members walked out once the commissioner entered the hall, said SK Siva, district secretary for South Chennai, Communist Party of India. “Once the commissioner announced what the meeting was convened for, I and CPM members said that Gyanesh Kumar must resign and until then we will not participate in any meetings related to SIR,” he said, adding that no action has been taken against the CEC for the alleged irregularities in SIR.More than 97 lakh votes in Tamil Nadu and 14 lakh votes in Chennai were deleted, as per data released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Dec 2025.DMK deputy general secretary and MP Kanimozhi told TOI that the party had made several attempts to state its stand on the issue. “We have clearly said that Gyanesh Kumar must resign. The walkout mirrors the same effort. We are soon going to meet the President and raise the issue,” she said.
