Chennai: With three Chief Ministers, one Deputy Chief Minister and several senior leaders from the Opposition ranks, including the Congress attending the anti-delimitation Joint Action Council (JAC) meeting on Saturday at Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin, who took the initiative has emerged as a strong rallying point for opposition against the BJP at the national level. However, a key player in the Opposition ranks, the Trinamool Congress will give the meeting a miss.
The first meeting of the JAC on “Fair Delimitation,” hosted by the DMK in Chennai, will have the participation of three chief ministers Pinarayi Vijayan of Kerala, A. Revanth Reddy of Telangana, and Bhagwant Mann of Punjab, along with Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and representatives from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), and the Congress.
Though invited, West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress chose not to send a representative.
This meeting marked the culmination of CM Stalin’s growing outreach, which began with an all-party conference in Tamil Nadu on March 5.
At that earlier meeting, 58 registered political parties —excluding the BJP — set aside ideological differences to present a unified stand against the delimitation exercise proposed for 2026.
The DMK and its allies argue that the current delimitation proposal threatens the federal balance of India.
They are concerned that it will disproportionately reduce representation for southern and eastern states — regions that have excelled in population control, economic development, healthcare, education, and social welfare.
Despite Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s assurance last month in Coimbatore that the southern states would not lose even a single parliamentary seat, the Tamil Nadu government chose to proceed with the JAC meeting.
The DMK maintains that Shah’s remarks, made during a public rally and not in Parliament or an official forum, are ambiguous and not legally binding.
“The delimitation process as it stands will strike at the very foundation of Indian federalism,” CM Stalin warned in a video message shared on Friday.
“States that have responsibly controlled population growth and contributed to national development must not be punished. It will erode the essence of democracy itself.”
The main items on the agenda are extending the current delimitation framework (based on the 1971 Census) by another 30 years beyond 2026.
Drafting a resolution demanding a reconsideration of the proposed delimitation process, exploring legal options, including petitions to the Supreme Court, launching public awareness campaigns in concerned states.
The initiative, once a regional effort by Tamil Nadu, has now evolved into what CM Stalin calls a national movement.
“States across India are joining hands to demand fair representation. This is more than a meeting — it is the beginning of a movement that will shape the future of our country,” he declared.
Importantly, this meeting stands out not as a conventional political alliance event but as an issue-based convergence. Even the Opposition INDIA bloc has not conducted such a high-profile meeting.
The broader concern among the participating states is that any change based on the latest census data could dilute their presence in the Lok Sabha and reduce their influence in policymaking and budget allocation.
Critics argue that states which have failed to implement effective governance and population control could gain more seats and political power, thereby tilting the federal balance in favour of the northern states — many of which are BJP strongholds.
According to sources, Saturday’s meeting will focus on formulating a coordinated legal and political response to challenge the potential impact of the 2026 delimitation.
Strategies include constitutional petitions, Supreme Court interventions, and collective efforts to raise the issue at the national level — particularly within the INDIA bloc.
With this meeting, CM Stalin and DMK will firmly position itself at the centre of a national political debate with far-reaching implications for the federal structure of India.
(IANS)
