COIMBATORE/TIRUPPUR: “The black flag we hoisted prior to the delimitation bill has brought down the saffron flag that BJP intended to hoist. The fire we ignited in Namakkal spread across the entire country and turned the delimitation plan to ashes,” said Chief Minister M K Stalin in Tiruppur on Saturday, adding that the people of Tamil Nadu will not believe NDA’s lies on women’s reservation bill.
Speaking at a public meeting in Mettupalayam, Stalin said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that the BJP government has already implemented the women’s reservation bill in 2023; so what is the connection between this and the bill they planned to pass in the Parliament on Friday? There is no connection. Modi has himself accepted this. We do not need to provide any explanation about the issue since his speech has exposed it. Rather, I should thank the PM for campaigning for us.”
Calling the outcome a “half-victory”, Stalin, in a video message on X, said the fight was far from over. He demanded that the centre must bring in a constitutional amendment to freeze delimitation for another 25 years — until 2051, on the lines of the arrangement made in 2001 — and immediately implement the women’s reservation bill passed in 2023 based on the existing seat count, without attaching it to delimitation as a precondition.
He further noted that for the first time in 12 years, a constitutional amendment bill moved by the Modi government had been defeated in Parliament.
Targeting the concept of a “double-engine government”, Stalin said, “The lack of progress of the AIIMS in Madurai is a perfect example of the flawed double-engine government.”
Responding to AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami’s criticism that former minister V Senthil Balaji has been fielded in Coimbatore South after “ruining” Karur district, Stalin said it was his decision to field Balaji in the constituency and expressed confidence that DMK and its allies’ candidates would win across all constituencies in Coimbatore district and end AIADMK’s stronghold.
He also indirectly charged former AIADMK minister and Thondamuthur MLA S P Velumani of being a BJP ‘spy’.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) national working president and leader of opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, said the delimitation bill was successfully opposed with the support of all opposition parties.
“Today, Modi has also arrived in Tamil Nadu for campaigning. Despite our repeated questions, he did not mention any of the special schemes he implemented for the state, and he never will. Yet, he will campaign by falsely claiming that DMK opposed women’s reservation. However, in reality, when the women’s reservation bill was introduced in 2023, we fully supported it. As a result, the bill was passed in September 2023. After 31 months, the BJP attempted to utilise that bill, along with constituency delimitation, for its own self-interest. BJP has no interest in advancing the interests of women and the people know this as well. Therefore, you (BJP) must try something new.”
Listing the DMK government’s achievements for Tiruppur, Stalin criticised AIADMK and BJP for getting in the way of the district. “Tiruppur is losing its identity due to the wrong policies of the centre. Entrepreneurs and workers of the west zone are in distress, thanks to them.”