NEW DELHI: Actor-politician Kamal Haasan sharply rebuked the central government over Lok Sabha seats delimitation. He questioned the “real motive” behind the PM Modi-led government’s move to skip census and dubbed it as the move to create “Hindia”.
“This arbitrary decision is part of that same pattern,” he said at the the all-party meeting on Wednesday. Citing continuous delay in census, Haasan said, “The real motive behind this is to consolidate power in Hindi-speaking states and ensure a decisive electoral victory.”
“We envision an inclusive India, but they want to create ‘Hindia.’ Why try to fix something that isn’t broken? There is no need to repeatedly disrupt a functioning democracy. No matter how constituencies are redrawn, the ones most affected will always be the non-Hindi-speaking states. This move undermines federalism and is entirely unnecessary,” he said
“Not just today, not just tomorrow, but at all times, keeping the number of parliamentary representatives unchanged is crucial to preserving democracy, federalism, and India’s diversity. As an Indian, a Tamilian, and on behalf of Makkal Needhi Maiam, I strongly emphasize this,” he added.
Haasan condemned the Union government for overstepping into states’ affairs, selectively allocating extra funds to poll-bound states while neglecting Tamil Nadu’s fair share of resources. He also accused the Centre of using financial aid as leverage to enforce the Hindi language under the pretext of a “three-language policy,” pressuring state governments into compliance.
He joined in Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin in opposing the Lok Sabha seats delimitation and said that if representation needed to be expanded, it should be at the state level, as all central government decisions are implemented by the states.
“If at all, they have to increase the number of seats, all govt decisions made in the centre are executed by the states. If at all they want to increase number of people’s representatives, let the Assembly seats be increased..,” he said.
Speaking to the media, Haasan said that the current parliamentary seats were sufficient and did not require an increase. ” My opinion is that this 453 (seats) need not change. Even when it was 145 crore, these 453 members led the country to this position today…they are sufficient,” he said.