LUCKNOW/PATNA: While southern states, led by the DMK, have come together to strongly oppose the central govt’s proposed delimitation exercise, the India bloc in Hindi-speaking states appears to be divided lot. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has said he is ‘with the people of Tamil Nadu’ over the issue, while the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has also backed the TN CM MK Stalin. The Rashtriya Janata Dal, the main opposition party in Bihar, however, has backed the exercise while BSP is non-committal.
Responding to a specific media query on the stance of Tamil Nadu govt over delimitation exercise, Akhilesh said: “Main Tamil Nadu ke logon ke saath hoon kyonki Bhartiya Janata Party pata nahi kaisa delimitation kar de. Aapne dekha nahi Block Pramkuh ke chunav kaise ladte hain ye log, Vidhan Sabha ke chunav kaise ladte hain. Jaati ke adhar par (Adhikari) post karte hain … (I am with the people of Tamil Nadu because one never knows what BJP will do in the name of delimitation. You have not seen how they contest Block Pramukh elections. How they contest Vidhan Sabha polls. They post (officials) on caste basis).”
When asked if he would go to Tamil Nadu to back Stalin on the issue, Akhilesh, responding to media queries outside Parliament on Friday, said: “First the Centre should get the census done and then get the caste census completed.”
When asked to comment on an undated video in which Tamil Nadu’s water resources minister Thiru Duraimurugan purportedly says that North Indian states have a custom of couples having “10 children like pigs”, SP national spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said he was yet to come to across any such statement.
The main opposition RLD in Bihar, headed by former CM Lalu Prasad, on Sunday strongly supported the delimitation exercise, saying the present MPs were working “overtime,” which was affecting their working capacity.
RJD MP from Buxar, Sudhakar Singh, said at present there is one MP for 18-28 lakh population, which has created a sort of work imbalance. “Due to the increase in population in every constituency, we are working overtime, which in turn badly affects our work,” Singh, who happens to be the son of state RJD President Jagadanand Singh, told the TOI on Sunday. Jagadanand is known to be very close to Lalu.
Stating that the number of Lok Sabha seats should be in proportion to population growth, the Buxar MP said, “The RJD believes that the number of parliamentarians should be rationalised so that the ability to work is not affected.”
Rejecting the fear of BJP to be in a “favourable situation” post-delimitation, a senior RJD leader said if that were the case, the BJP would not have fared badly in states like TN and Kerala. Even in Odisha, they put up unimpressive performance in Odisha until recently.
CPI-ML’s state secretary Kunal, who goes by one name, said delimitation must be done properly without disturbing the number of seats, as the southern states are apprehensive.
In the neighbouring state of Jharkhand, though, the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has come out in support of the Tamil Nadu CM Stalin, welcoming the meeting held by the latter over the delimitation issue. “Limiting delimitation only on the basis of population cannot be fair and equitable,” Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren said.
Raising concerns over delimitation, Soren said attempts were made earlier also to reduce the number of tribal seats in the state, which sparked a huge uproar, leading to its postponement.
BSP chief Mayawati, on the other hand, is yet to react on the issue. Senior functionaries in the party told TOI that it is the national matter and, if at all the BSP reacts, reaction would be of ‘Behenji’ only. “It is not something that is going to happen anytime soon. Behenji will react to it when it’s time comes,” said sources in the party. BSP in the past has supported delimitation that happened in UP. “This time it is related to Lok Sabha seats so the party will take a well thought out decision,” said a senior functionary.