CHENNAI: Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam president and actor Vijay, in his first detailed statement explaining the party’s stance on delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies, questioned the rationale for increasing the number of Lok Sabha seats, pointing out the inefficiencies in the way the parliament is functioning at the moment.
Opposing any attempt at delimitation that will reduce the representation of Tamil Nadu, he said the stance taken by political parties in this primary issue will help in identifying who truly stands for the welfare of TN and who is not.
He said the primary objectives of the parliament are to enact laws after adequate discussions and to monitor and control the government by questioning it to ensure that it governs honestly and as per the Constitution. However, it is plain as day that the Indian parliament is failing to achieve this, he contended.
Arguing that increasing number of LS seats without reforming present system is of no use, he said, shortage of MPs is not a problem faced by common people, who are more concerned about inflation, unemployment, education, health and basic infrastructure.
He said while Article 81 of the Constitution says it should be ensured as much as possible that each MP represents a fairly equal number of people, in line with the democratic principle of “one vote, one value”, it is also an important democratic principle that each state has equal representation in a diverse country like India.
He stressed that his party will stand shoulder to shoulder with all political parties in opposing any unilateral efforts by the Union government to take up delimitation based on present population since it will be seen as an atttempt to completely destroy the political importance of southern states. It will never be acceptable if a situation arises where a party can come to power in India by winning in northern states.
Stating that federalism is a fundamental value enshrined in the Constitution drafted by BR Ambedkar, he said delimitation can be decided only after evolving a consensus with all the states.