BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah extended his support to his Tamil Nadu counterpart MK Stalin’s move to form a Joint Action Committee (JAC) comprising like-minded states to oppose the Union Government’s proposed delimitation exercise.
A DMK delegation comprising Tamil Nadu Forest Minister K Ponmudi and Rajya Sabha member Mohammed Abdullah Ismail on Wednesday met Siddaramaiah at his residence in Bengaluru and handed over Stalin’s letter inviting him to the March 22 meeting on delimitation in Chennai.
According to informed sources, Siddaramaiah is likely to depute a Congress leader from Karnataka to attend the meeting in Chennai.
Siddaramaiah’s consent to be part of the Joint Action Committee is significant in the wake of Stalin taking the lead in resisting the Centre’s proposed delimitation of the Lok Sabha and state assemblies on the basis of the first census after 2026. The bone of contention is that if the delimitation is based on the population, the southern states, that controlled the population, would lose out on the number of LS seats to a few highly populated northern states like Uttar Pradesh.
“With no hesitation, we condemn all the actions of the Central Government that are against the interests of Karnataka, weaken democracy, and go against the federal principle of the Constitution. We made our stand clear that we will support the struggle on this issue,” Siddaramaiah said.
In his letter to Siddaramaiah, Stalin said that after 2026, the situation may become drastically skewed if the exercise is conducted as per the next census.
“Those states that controlled their population and achieved superior governance indicators will face unjust punishment and reduced representation in the very forum where national policies are determined. Once implemented, this democratic imbalance could persist for decades, leaving our states with diminished capacity to advocate for our people’s interests, secure rightful resources, and influence critical rational decisions.
For the record, we are not against delimitation itself. What we oppose is its weaponisation against states that fulfilled their national duties, thus punishing progress,” Stalin elaborated.
Despite the gravity of this issue, the Union Government has provided neither clarity nor any concrete commitment to address our concerns, Stalin added.
It is time we work together to uphold our self-respect: DKS
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief DK Shivakumar said that he would discuss with the Congress high command on TN CM MK Stalin’s invitation to participate in the anti-delimitation meeting in Chennai on March 22.
“As we are a national party, we need to discuss the matter with our party high command. We will decide on the next course of action after seeking their advice. We have informed the TN delegation of the same. It is time we work together to uphold our self-respect,” Shivakumar told the media after meeting the TN delegation.