Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan backs Stalin’s conference against delimitation move
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has extended support to the movement led by his Tamil Nadu counterpart M K Stalin against the proposed delimitation of parliamentary constituencies. On Friday, Pinarayi accepted an invitation from Stalin to attend a meeting convened by him in Chennai on March 22.
Stalin’s representatives Palanivel Thiagarajan, TN Minister of Information Technology and Digital Services, and DMK MP Thamizhachi
Thangapandian, met Pinarayi at his office and handed over the invitation. Pinarayi expressed solidarity with the movement and confirmed Kerala’s participation in the meeting.
A statement issued by Pinarayi said the Union government should take a decision on delimitation through consensus.
“Delimitation should be held in such a way that the proportional share of each state is retained. The states that implemented population control measures should not be penalised,” he said.
Allay concerns of southern states, CM urges Centre
“It is an injustice if the states that reduced their population size as per the population control and family planning policies of the successive Union governments get less than the current proportional share of seats. It will be like an award to states which faulted on the policies,” he said.
“The delimitation process was previously carried out in the country in 1952, 1963 and 1973. However, the exercise was frozen in 1976 through the 42nd constitutional amendment until the 2001 Census. This was to encourage population control measures. Since the disparity in population size among states continued, it was frozen until the 2031 Census through the 84th constitutional amendment.
The Union government’s claim that South Indian states will get more constituencies on a pro rata basis cannot be taken at face value. The Centre is yet to clarify whether the pro rata is based on the percentage of seats held by each state or population data. In either case, South India states are bound to lose representation,” the CM said in the statement.
Urging the Centre to allay the concerns of South Indian states, Pinarayi said: “The Union government has the responsibility to preserve the essence of democracy and federalism by avoiding unilateral steps.”
Congress-ruled Telangana and Karnataka governments, opposition BRS in Telangana, former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s BJD, and former Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP are some of the parties that have confirmed their participation in the meeting to be held in Chennai. Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah has asked Deputy CM DK Shivakumar to attend the meeting.