CHENNAI: After DMK president and Chief Minister MK Stalin set fire to a copy of the Constitution Amendment Bill on Delimitation, senior leaders including party’s organisational secretary RS Bharathi set the copy on fire as a mark of protest in front of Anna Arivalayam on Thursday.
Drawing parallels to the party’s legal victory against the governor in the Supreme Court, DMK organisation secretary RS Bharathi and party’s legal department secretary NR Elango said that they are exploring all possible legal options. “We have full confidence in the Supreme Court. We will fight this bill legally,” RS Bharathi said.
“The Bill offered no written guarantees to southern states despite verbal assurances from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah,” Bharathi said. He added that the proposed bill on delimitation would meet the same fate as that of demonetisation.
“During demonetisation, did even a paisa reach the treasury as profit? This bill will fail just the same,” Bharathi said, dubbing the legislation a “soda masala Bill” — all fizz, no substance.
Taking a dig at BJP’s claim that DMK was raising the issue out of electoral fear, Bharathi said, “Those who brought this Bill right before elections are the ones who are afraid. They thought they could pass it with a two-thirds majority by keeping 85 MPs from certain states away. But we are the sons of our leader Kalaignar and will not be fooled,” he said.