Chennai: Leader of Opposition, Udhayanidhi Stalin, on Wednesday extended the DMK’s support to the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government’s resolution on delimitation, asserting that Tamil Nadu must not lose its representation in Parliament under any future redrawing of constituencies.
Speaking in the Tamil Nadu Assembly during the debate on the resolution moved by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, Udhayanidhi said the DMK had consistently opposed any delimitation exercise that could adversely affect the State.
He said former Chief Minister and DMK President, M.K. Stalin, was among the first leaders to warn nationally about the possible consequences of a population-based delimitation exercise.
Udhayanidhi recalled that the previous DMK government had initiated several measures to build political consensus on the issue.
In February 2024, the Assembly had adopted a resolution on delimitation under Stalin’s leadership. An all-party meeting was subsequently convened on March 5, where representatives of various political parties, including the TVK, expressed their views.
Stalin had also written to the Chief Ministers of seven states and leaders of major political parties explaining the potential impact of delimitation, Udhayanidhi said.
A Joint Action Committee meeting involving political leaders from different states was later held in Chennai to discuss the issue.
The Leader of Opposition said concerns remained that delimitation provisions could be revived, potentially paving the way for parliamentary constituencies to be redistributed on the basis of population figures emerging from the 2027 Census.
He called for the existing constitutional arrangement governing delimitation to be extended for another 25 years to ensure that states which successfully implemented population-control measures were not penalised through reduced parliamentary representation.
Udhayanidhi also reiterated the DMK’s support for 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and State legislatures.
However, he said that if implementation of the women’s quota was linked to delimitation, the exercise should be based on the 1971 population figures.
He stressed that Tamil Nadu’s share of parliamentary representation should not be allowed to decline as a consequence of delimitation.
Concluding his speech, Udhayanidhi said the DMK welcomed and fully supported the resolution moved by the Vijay-led TVK government, signalling broad political agreement in the Assembly on protecting Tamil Nadu’s representation while advancing women’s reservation.
(IANS)
