CHENNAI: Minister Aadhav Arjuna on Friday asserted in the Assembly that the state government and Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay remain firmly committed to its stance on freezing Lok Sabha seats at 543 for the next 25 years, backed by legislation. He said this was the position reflected in the resolution adopted by the Assembly on August 12. “We don’t want fair delimitation. What we want is — freeze delimitation,” he added.
The minister stated that he was clarifying the government’s stance amid a “misinformation campaign” that it has softened its position on delimitation following Vijay’s speech at the Southern Zonal Council meeting, chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Mahabalipuram on Thursday.
Leader of Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin said while the Assembly resolution called for retaining the cap on Lok Sabha seats, the chief minister’s speech at the Southern Zonal Council meeting did not convey this position.
Law Minister CTR Nirmal Kumar said he had clarified the government’s stance immediately after the meeting. Reiterating the DMK’s stand, Udhayanidhi said the Lok Sabha should continue to have 543 seats. If the number of seats is to be increased, Tamil Nadu’s existing 7.18% share of representation should not be reduced and instead should be increased, he said.
Responding to it, Aadhav alleged that the DMK had opposed a 50% increase in LS seats before the Assembly elections but appeared to be changing its position now. If the BJP-led union government introduced a legislation to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats by 50%, all 39 MPs from Tamil Nadu should oppose it unitedly without staging a walkout, Arjuna said. Such an increase would amount to a “betrayal of Tamil Nadu” and “mortgaging Tamil Nadu”, he added.
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said his party’s position was that Tamil Nadu’s existing 7.18% share of Lok Sabha representation should not be reduced in any delimitation exercise. BJP MLA Bojarajan, however, said delimitation could benefit Tamil Nadu.
If the number of Lok Sabha seats increased by 50%, the state’s representation could rise from the present 39 to 59, he said. PMK MLA Ganeshkumar said delimitation could provide TN with additional seats if its existing proportional share was protected. He questioned why the Congress has gone from demanding “fair delimitation” to opposing delimitation altogether.
