CHENNAI: The first Joint Action Committee (JAC) meeting on delimitation convened by DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday unanimously adopted a resolution demanding that the freeze on the parliamentary constituencies based on the 1971 Census population be extended by another 25 years as it was done in 2001.
The meeting in which Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, his Telangana and Punjab counterparts, Revanth Reddy and Bhagwant Mann, Karnataka Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, and around 20 other leaders of different parties from six states took part, also laid a road map for taking forward the fight legally and politically.
The resolution pointed out that the 42nd, 84th, and 87th constitutional amendments, which delayed population-based delimitation at various points in the past, were to protect/incentivise states that had implemented population control measures effectively.
It said there is a need to extend the freeze by another 25 years since the goal of national population stabilisation has not been achieved yet.
Saying that the states whose population share came down due to the population control programme should not be penalised, the resolution also urged the union government to enact necessary constitutional amendments for this purpose.
The JAC expressed concern on the alleged lack of transparency and clarity in the impending delimitation exercise from the union government and the absence of consultation with various stakeholders. It appreciated CM Stalin for taking up this initiative to “safeguard the political and economic future of the performing states in India,” a release from the state government later said.
“Any delimitation exercise carried out by the union government to improve the content and character of democracy should be carried out transparently, enabling political parties of all the states, state governments and other stakeholders to deliberate, discuss and contribute to it,” the resolution said.
It said a core committee consisting of MPs from the represented states will coordinate parliamentary strategies to counter any attempts by the union government to undertake a delimitation exercise contrary to the principles articulated by the JAC.
The committee will submit a joint representation to the PM during the ongoing parliamentary session. It was also decided that the parties taking part in the meeting would initiate efforts to bring appropriate resolutions in their respective Legislative Assemblies in this regard.
Telangana CM Revanth Reddy proposed that the next meeting of the JAC be conducted in Hyderabad.
