NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Friday announced launching a joint action committee with the chief ministers several states against Centre’s bid to reorganise the constituencies for Lok Sabha.
Reiterating his stance that Union government’s push for delimitation is a “blatant assault on federalism“, Stalin wrote to chief ministers of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Telangana, Punjab and Odisha seeking allegiance “for an uncompromising fight against this unfair exercise.”
In a social media post on X, Stalin said, “The Union govt’s plan for Delimitation is a blatant assault on federalism, punishing States that ensured population control & good governance by stripping away our rightful voice in Parliament. We will not allow this democratic injustice!”
“I have written to Hon’ble chief ministers Thiru Pinarayi Vijayan, Siddaramaiah, Revanth Reddy, Chandrababu Naidu, Mamata Banerjee, Bhagwant Mann and Mohan Majhi and party heads in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, West Bengal, Odisha & Punjab, calling for an uncompromising fight against this unfair exercise,” he added.
He also called upon political parties to send senior representatives for the joint action committee scheduled to be held at Chennai on March 22.
“We are forming a Joint Action Committee (JAC) to defend our States from being silenced. I call upon parties to send a senior representative. First JAC meeting in Chennai on March 22, 2025. Let us stand together not as separate political entities but as protectors of our people’s future,” Stalin said.
This comes amid the ongoing rift between Tamil Nadu chief minister and Centre over delimitation and New Education Policy. Stalin expressed concern about the potential reduction in Parliamentary seats, attributing it to the state’s successful implementation of family planning initiatives.
Stalin had also suggested newly married couples to start families quickly to ensure adequate political representation post-delimitation. He acknowledged the state’s successful family planning initiatives but expressed worry about their current implications. He also advised the couples to proper Tamil names for their future children.
Delimitation, a constitutional process in India, involves redrawing parliamentary and assembly constituencies to ensure equal population representation across electoral districts. This process determines how many representatives each state gets in Parliament based on population size.
The process is guided by specific constitutional provisions under Articles 82 and 170 of the Indian Constitution. Article 82 mandates that Parliament must enact a Delimitation Act after each national census to redefine Lok Sabha constituency boundaries and numbers. Article 170 establishes guidelines for State Legislative Assembly delimitation, determining seat allocation based on population data.