DMK supremo MK Stalin on Saturday announced his party’s support to the ongoing protests demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged vote discrepancies. At the same time, it distanced itself from the Congress, which is spearheading the agitation, calling the party a “backstabber”.He made the announcement after calling a meeting of the DMK MPs. The meeting resolved to demand the removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, scrap SIR (special intensive revision) exercise and restore ballot papers, while accusing the Congress and the ruling TVK in Tamil Nadu of adopting double standards on the electoral roll revision.The party’s resolution referred to the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and other student movements, while its concluding statement extended support to protests launched by “democratic forces” against the SIR.In a statement after the meeting, the regional party said, “This meeting adopts the following demands — complete cancellation of the SIR, restore ballot paper voting in place of EVMs, and submission of a petition to the President of India.”Like the rest of the Opposition, the DMK has been against the SIR drive and called for its rollback. However, the party has stayed away from the Congress-led INDIA bloc’s agitation in Delhi.“It seems that the present government at the Centre is unlike any government we have seen before, as it appears to have no faith in the Constitution. Everyone whose name has been removed the electoral roll must be given justice, and their names must be reinstated on the voters’ list,” DMK’s deputy general secretary Kanimozhi said.“The DMK has been warning people against the SIR. We have been warning that people will be losing their voting rights. Even before the elections, our leader MK Stalin has been warning about it,” she said.Citing Congress leader P Chidambaram’s assessment that CJP had the potential to evolve into a political party and make an impact, DMK MP A Raja said he reiterated the same view.Meanwhile, the DMK reiterated that the party will not participate in any activity alongside what it calls the “backstabbing” Congress, while accusing it of attempting to appropriate a movement that gained momentum through student and youth mobilisation.The DMK was a key alliance partner of the Congress, but the coalition ended after the grand old party joined hands with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) after the Assembly elections that saw the DMK’s ouster from power.Upping the ante against the Centre, Stalin stated that the crackdown will only make the protests stronger.”Where is @abhijeet_dipke? Where is @neha_aisa? Detaining them without disclosing their whereabouts is blatantly illegal and deeply inhumane. The Union Government must release them immediately and stop suppressing peaceful protests. Every attempt to crush the movement will only make it stronger,” he posted on X.He ended his post with #GyaneshKumarMustGo. “The Union BJP Government has no other option,” he said.Earlier, Stalin had lashed out at the detention of CJP leaders Ashutosh Ranka and Saurav Das for a flash protest at Jantar Mantar.”How many protestors can this government detain? How many young voices can the BJP silence?” he had posted.He had also added that DMK would provide legal assistance to the CJP in its struggle.The DMK’s outreach to CJP is also being seen as a strategic attempt to reconnect with young voters who catapulted CM Vijay to power.The DMK questioned why the Congress was criticizing it over the issue while remaining silent on the TVK’s refusal to directly target the Chief Election Commissioner or the BJP. It also alleged that the TVK had secret ties with the BJP, citing Vijay’s silence on SIR and Gyanesh Kumar, along with other developments involving the state administration and the Governor.It is pertinent to note that the BJP is in talks with the DMK to secure support for the reintroduction of the Women’s Reservation and Delimitation constitutional amendment bills in a potential special session of Parliament.