Kamal Haasan Warns of ‘Living Dead’ Voters in Roll Revision Drive; Deve Gowda Defends Government’s Quiet Diplomacy
In his first-ever address in the Rajya Sabha, actor-turned-parliamentarian Kamal Haasan on Wednesday voiced deep unease over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu, warning that nearly one crore voters risk being erased from official records and turned into what he termed “living dead” citizens on paper.
Speaking during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, Haasan drew parallels with the SIR exercise carried out in Bihar last year, where large-scale deletions and discrepancies were reported.
“My immediate concern is about the upcoming elections,” Haasan said, describing the revision process as a troubling “spell-check story of the living dead.”
He criticised the practice of scrutinising voters’ documents for minor errors such as spelling mismatches and address inconsistencies, noting that citizens simply wanted to exercise their democratic right.
Referring to the digital system being used by the Election Commission of India, Haasan said centralised software was issuing notices based on so-called “logical discrepancies” in paperwork.
“We live in a modern world where even literature and the internet forgive spelling mistakes in favour of content. But the Election Commission doesn’t,” he remarked sharply. “EC should not stand for English coaches.
Bihar has already become a land of many ‘living dead’. We don’t want this problem to infect the rest of the country.”
Haasan pointed out that the draft electoral roll released in December showed nearly 97 lakh voters in Tamil Nadu had been removed after being marked as deceased, relocated or duplicate registrants.
Additionally, around 1.70 crore voters were flagged for verification notices.
With the final electoral roll scheduled for publication on February 14 and Assembly elections approaching, he urged Parliament to intervene immediately to prevent disenfranchisement on a massive scale.
Later in the discussion, former Prime Minister and Rajya Sabha MP H. D. Deve Gowda offered a contrasting perspective, subtly defending the government’s approach to governance and diplomacy.
While the Opposition has repeatedly criticised Narendra Modi for maintaining silence on key issues, Deve Gowda argued that such silence often carries strategic strength.
He cited recent Indo-EU and Indo-US trade negotiations as examples of achievements accomplished without public grandstanding.
He added that if the government had compromised the interests of Indian farmers or the dairy sector, he would have been the first to raise objections directly with the Prime Minister.
Concluding his remarks, Deve Gowda called for urgent solutions to Karnataka’s persistent drinking water crisis, urging the Centre to prioritise the issue.
The debate reflected growing political tensions over electoral reforms, governance style and the broader direction of India’s democracy as crucial elections draw closer.
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