Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday demanded a fair delimitation. “We are not against delimitation,” he said in his opening remarks at the first Joint Action Committee (JAC) meeting on delimitation in Chennai.
Flanked by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Telangana CM Revanth Reddy, Stalin said today’s meeting was a ‘defining’ moment. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwat Singh Mann, Karnataka’s Deputy CM DK Shivakumar also attended the meeting. Balwinder Singh Bhunder, Working president of Shiromani Akali Dal, and PMA Salam, General Secretary of Indian Union Muslim League Kerala, were also present.
At the meeting Stalin said the delimitation of constituencies should not happen as per the current population. This will only reduce people’s representatives in the Parliament. “All of us should be firm in opposing this process,” he said. The reduction in the number of seats will in turn lead to lower funds for states, he added.
On Friday, in a video message on the meeting, Stalin said if the delimitation happens with the present population, Tamil Nadu and other states will lose representation in the Parliament. “This will strike at the foundation of federalism in India and voices in Parliament will be silenced. Our rights will be compromised,” he said.
The meeting was to unite all the states that would be affected by delimitation. The meeting will chart the future course of action, Stalin said.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu BJP protested against DMK for giving away the state’s rights and said, the delimitation meeting was a drama.
State BJP President K Annamalai on JAC meeting told newspersons that since the DMK government has come to power, the state’s interests have been sacrificed for political gain. CM Stalin has not gone to Kerala to speak with his Kerala counterpart to solve critical issues like the Mullaperiyar dam. However, he has invited him to talk about an artificial issue, he said.
