‘Historic’ for Stalin, ‘delusional drama’ for BJP: CMs’ meet in Tamil Nadu on delimitation

Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK is hosting its first meeting in Chennai of states over delimitation on Saturday, with chief minister MK Stalin saying that the day will be “etched in history”.

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin welcomed CMs of several states and political leaders to the meeting on Saturday morning, saying they were “united” in their “commitment to fair delimitation”.

“Today will be etched in history as the day when states that have contributed to our nation’s development came together to safeguard its federal structure by ensuring #FairDelimitation. I warmly welcome all Chief Ministers and political leaders to this meeting, united in our commitment to #FairDelimitation,” Stalin said in a post on X.

On Friday he said it was more than a meeting, which marked the beginning of a movement that will shape the future of the country to achieve fair delimitation.

At the meeting on delimitation, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin said, “Delimitation of constituencies should not happen as per current population. We all should be firm in opposing it…With the decrease in the people’s representatives in Parliament, our strength to express our views will decrease.”

Who’s attended the meet

Chief ministers of Kerala, Telangana, and Punjab: Pinarayi Vijayan, Revanth Reddy, Bhagwant Singh Mann, and working president of Shiromani Akali Dal Balwinder Singh Bhunder, and general secretary of Indian Union Muslim League Kerala PMA Salam, were among the leaders who reached Chennai to take part in the meeting.

Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal and Punjab are the seven states the DMK has reached out for the meeting.

“A historic day for Indian federalism,! Stalin said on the eve of the meeting and BJP Tamil Nadu President K Annamalai alleged the meeting on delimitation was a “delusional drama.”

‘Delusional drama’

Meanwhile, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which staged a black flag protest, slammed Stalin for not convening similar meetings on the Cauvery and Mullaiperiar water-sharing disputes with Karnataka and Kerala, respectively. BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan described the meeting as “corruption hiding meeting” by the respective leaders.

BJP leader Annamalai took to social media on Friday to criticise Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin, saying he was doing his “delusional drama on delimitation.”

“Tomorrow, while TN CM Thiru @mkstalin orchestrates his delusional drama on Delimitation, we hope he will play this speech of DMK Minister Thiru TM Anbarasan to his I.N.D.I. Alliance partners. It’s as if the DMK Ministers have made a collective decision to insult and abuse our brothers and sisters of northern India,” Annamalai said

Annamalai shared a video clip of a speech by state minister Anbarasan, in which he made an “insulting” comparison about the population increase in northern states. The incident highlights the growing tensions between the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government and the BJP-led Centre.

What’s the delimitation issue

The ruling DMK of Tamil Nadu has been at odds with the BJP over several issues, including the withholding of education funds by the central government. The proposed delimitation exercise has now become a new point of contention between the two parties.

The Tamil Nadu delimitation issue revolves around the redrawing of the boundaries for the state’s representation in the Lok Sabha based on population figures. Delimitation refers to the process of determining the number of seats and the boundaries of constituencies in legislative bodies.

Earlier, on March 5, CM Stalin had proposed that the 1971 population figures should serve as the basis for delimitation of Lok Sabha seats for the next 30 years, urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make this assurance in Parliament. The Joint Action Committee (JAC) plans to continue pushing this demand, stressing that Tamil Nadu’s current representation percentage of 7.18% per cent in Parliament should not be altered.

At the Saturday meet, Stalin asserted that Joint Action Committee is “very essential to create awareness among people”.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah weighed in on the dispute during a speech on March 21, reiterating that southern states would not lose a “single Parliamentary seat.” Shah accused Stalin of spreading “misinformation” and emphasized the importance of unity in India, stating, “There have been enough divisions in the nation in the name of language, and it should not happen anymore.” He also addressed the language debate, saying, “Hindi is not in competition with any Indian language, it is only a friend of other languages.”