In a classic case of partisan journalism, The News Minute (TNM) and its editor-in-chief Dhanya Rajendran have once again exposed their blatant bias by amplifying Rahul Gandhi’s unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud while conveniently ignoring the DMK’s brazen misuse of government machinery to harvest voter data under the guise of electoral verification.
On 7 August 2025, Gandhi triggered a political storm after threatening “consequences” for polling officials if the ECI failed to release certain electoral data. While his remarks drew condemnation from the BJP, Dhanya Rajendran took to social media to endorse his claims by reviving her outlet’s 2023 investigation into voter list irregularities in Bengaluru’s Mahadevapura constituency.
Just wanted to remind everyone of TNM's investigation in 2023- which also focused on assembly segments in Bangalore Central seat including Mahadevapura.
We found that a Bengaluru NGO- recruited by the BBMP- working with the ECI- was stealing voter data.
Chilume NGO also ran…
— Dhanya Rajendran (@dhanyarajendran) August 7, 2025
TNM’s Cherry-Picked Investigation
TNM’s 2023 report on the now-defunct alleged that the Chilume NGO, contracted by the BBMP and working with the ECI, illegally harvested voter data, trained workers at BJP offices, and facilitated targeted voter deletions in Muslim-dominated Shivajinagar. TNM’s report claimed data was sold to political actors, with some BJP leaders among the buyers, and questioned unexplained cash transfers to associates of the NGO founder. which allegedly siphoned voter data to benefit the BJP, was paraded as “investigative journalism.”
While Rajendran cited this investigation as proof that Gandhi’s charges had merit, critics note that neither she nor TNM have applied the same scrutiny to a current controversy in Tamil Nadu involving the DMK’s Oraniyil Tamil Nadu membership drive, run through the “Makkaludan Stalin” app. TNM is conspicuously silent when its own backyard witnesses a far more egregious scam: DMK cadres masquerading as Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) officials or accompanying them to trick residents into enrolling in the party’s Makkaludan Stalin app via OTP-based verification.
In several Chennai neighbourhoods, residents have alleged that individuals wearing Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) identity cards are going door-to-door posing as civic officials conducting electoral roll verification. Residents say they were asked to share mobile numbers, after which the number was entered into an app and a missed call to a given number was requested. Soon after, they received a pre-recorded message from Chief Minister M.K. Stalin welcoming them to the DMK’s campaign.
Multiple accounts describe entire streets undergoing this process, with many believing it to be an official ECI initiative. The ECI has issued no directive authorising such missed-call or OTP-based verification for voter lists. Observers warn that the practice blurs the line between government functions and party mobilisation, raising concerns over coercion, data privacy violations, and political misuse of civic authority.
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has already issued a temporary injunction restricting the DMK’s OTP-based membership enrolment over privacy concerns. Allegations continue that local DMK functionaries are under pressure to inflate membership numbers ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.
While TNM hyperventilates over a BJP-linked NGO, it turns a blind eye to the DMK’s systemic exploitation of civic workers to harvest voter data for political gains. The double standards are staggering.
DMK’s Data Racket: A TNM Blackout
TNM refuses to investigate how DMK cadres either allegedly posing as Greater Chennai Corporation Workers or accompanying, are going door-to-door, misleading citizens into believing they are part of an official Election Commission drive.
TNM refuses to speak up and investigate how residents are duped into providing mobile numbers, which are then fed into the DMK’s membership app, followed by a pre-recorded call from CM Stalin “thanking” them for joining the party.
TNM refuses to call out how this process has not received ECI authorization – The Election Commission has no such OTP-based verification process, confirming this as a blatant voter data heist.
Yet, TNM which claims to hold power accountable, has zero reports on this scandal. Why? Because it doesn’t fit their narrative of painting the BJP as the sole villain of Indian democracy.
TNM’s Congress Buttressing Agenda
Rahul Gandhi’s recent theatrics, threatening Election Commission officials with “consequences” if they don’t release voter data, was uncritically amplified by TNM. But when the DMK engages in actual electoral malpractice, TNM’s silence is deafening.
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