CHENNAI: Nineteen Parliament members belonging to six political parties of Tamil Nadu on Saturday unanimously decided to oppose the proposed delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies and urged the centre to retain the existing number of 543 Lok Sabha seats, the present allocation of seats among states, and the existing ratio between Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats.
The decision was taken at the meeting of all-party TN MPs chaired by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay at Kalaivanar Arangam in Chennai on Saturday. Nineteen of the total 57 MPs from the state — Lok Sabha (39) and Rajya Sabha (18) — took part. Main opposition parties, the DMK and the AIADMK, boycotted the meeting, calling it a “farce” and a “hurriedly staged drama”.
The meeting unanimously decided that a separate government resolution would be passed in the Assembly to permanently protect the rights of Tamil Nadu and other southern states. The MPs urged all political parties to work together to protect Tamil Nadu’s rights in Parliament and vote against any constitutional amendment or new Bill brought by the centre in connection with delimitation. The CM urged all parties to work together to protect TN’s representation and importance in Parliament. While MPs from the Congress, VCK, CPI, CPM, IUML, and MDMK took part, Parliament members of DMK (30), AIADMK (4) and one each from PMK, DMDK, and MNM boycotted the meet.
Time available to raise issues in Parl may reduce: MPs
The MPs pointed out that even with the present 543 members, the time available for each MP to speak in Parliament is already limited. They said increasing the number of MPs would further reduce the time available to members to raise issues affecting states and people.
The MPs said a 50% increase in Lok Sabha seats should not be used to hide the possible loss of representation for southern states. They described the proposal as an attempt to make the proposed delimitation acceptable. The participants also expressed concern that the Census 2027 could lead to a further reduction in the representation of southern states if delimitation is carried out based on population.
The present ratio between the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, which is around 2.21, should be maintained, the MPs said, adding that any major change in this ratio could affect the representation of states. The participants said Parliament should have the final say on all issues pertaining to delimitation.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, TNCC president Manickam Tagore, Thol Thirumavalavan (VCK), K Subbarayan (CPI), Su Venkatesan (CPM), K Nawaz Kani (IUML) and Durai Vaiko (MDMK) participated. After the meeting, Tagore said there was no such thing as a “fair delimitation” for Tamil Nadu if the exercise was based mainly on population. He alleged that the BJP was trying to weaken TN’s political representation.
Venkatesan said Tamil Nadu had already suffered a reduction in Lok Sabha seats from 41 to 39 when the total number of Lok Sabha seats was increased from 522 to 543. “An injustice already done cannot become justice by making it bigger,” he said. VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan said his party had also suggested changes in the Rajya Sabha system and also sought a system under which reserved constituencies are rotated once every 10 years.
As many as 37 MPs from DMK (30), AIADMK (4), DMDK (1), MNM (1), PMK (1) boycotted the all-party Tamil Nadu MPs’ meeting on delimitation chaired by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay at Kalaivanar Arangam on Saturday. DMK and AIADMK said their stand on the issue remains the same and blamed the TVK government for violating procedures in calling for the meeting. We would not support any move that would affect the state’s representation in Parliament in terms of percentage and that the exercise should not be based on population, the Dravidian parties said.
Reacting to the opposition’s charge, Education Minister Rajmohan said the meeting on delimitation was meant for MPs and those who chose not to participate had displayed “selfish politics” and could be acting in the interests of their new political friends, implying that DMK is moving closer to BJP. He termed their approach a “lethargic attitude” towards the state’s issues.
Speaking to reporters in Chennai, DMK parliamentary party leader and MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi reaffirmed the party’s demand for a fair delimitation exercise, and sought to know the change in stand of political parties that participated in Saturday’s meeting. Kanimozhi said the DMK’s demand has been delimitation should not be based solely on population as it would punish southern states, including Tamil Nadu, that took effective measures to control population.
She pointed out that then CM MK Stalin convened a meeting in Chennai, inviting chief ministers and leaders of various parties from all affected states, where a unanimous resolution was passed. “Even representatives of parties present in today’s meeting signed it. What is the necessity for a new meeting now? We need to know what has changed in their stance,” she asked.
Taking a direct swipe at the Vijay-led administration for convening the meeting, Kanimozhi questioned the procedural propriety of the invitations sent by the state government. She came down heavily on the chief secretary for directly writing to the MPs for the meeting instead of writing to the respective party leaders.
Stating that no draft bill or official communication regarding delimitation has been circulated by the Union government for the ongoing parliamentary session, she added that until the draft is made available and we know what changes are being introduced, discussing an unknown issue serves no purpose. She further alleged that the meeting was a tactic to divert public focus away from pressing regional crises.
An AIADMK MP told TNIE that the party had already expressed its stand in the all-party meeting convened by the previous government, and their stand remains the same. “In that all-party meeting, it was AIADMK which proposed an addition in the resolution passed, that Tamil Nadu’s representation of 7.2% should not be changed at any cost. The proposal was added to the resolution and it was passed in the meeting,” the MP said.
Health Minister KG Arunraj alleged that DMK had “bowed down” to BJP to protect its leaders facing corruption cases. He said the Cauvery and delimitation issues were “two eyes” for Tamil Nadu and both required equal attention.
