Chennai, Mar 2 (UNI) The main Opposition AIADMK and the Pattali Makkal
Katchi (PMK) has decided to take part, while the BJP and the Naam Tamizhar
Katchi (NTK) would boycott the All Party meeting convened on March 5, by
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin to discussed the proposed delimitation
exercise to be carried out by the Centre.
The decision to convene the All Party meeting was taken at a meeting of the
State Cabinet a couple of days back and was announced by Mr Stalin, who
said the proposed delimitation exercise by the Centre based on population,
would reduce the Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu.
He objected to the exercise based on population data as Tamil Nadu would
stand to lose eight seats bringing it down from the total 39 to 31 seats, while
Northern states are set to get higher number of seats.
Stating that the southern states would be grossly affected, Mr Stalin said they
were being punished by the Centre for successfully controlling the population
growth through effective implementation of the family planning programme.
To discuss the future course of action on this key issue, Mr Stalin said an All
Party meeting will be held on March five and invitations were sent to a total of
40 political recognised with the Election Commssion of India.
While several Opposition parties like the AIADMK and PMK have expressed
their consent to attend the meeting, the BJP and NTK decided to boycott it.
Talking to reporters in Salem, AIADMK General Secretary and Leader of the
Opposition in the State Assembly Edappadi K. Palaniswami said his party
would take part in the all-party meeting to discuss the impact of the proposed
delimitation, which has raised concerns over a possible reduction in Lok Sabha
seats for South Indian states that have effectively implemented population control
measures over the years.
Mr Palaniswami said two of his party representatives would attend the meeting
to express the AIADMK's views on the issue.
PMK President and Rajya Sabha MP Dr Anbumani Ramadoss said his party
would also take part in the meeting stating that any reduction in Lok Sabha
seats in the State in the name of delimitation was unacceptable.
On the other the number of seats should be increase as the State needed more
MPs to represent in Parliament, he said.
BJP State Unit President K Annamalai termed Mr Stalin's fear of losing Lok Sabha
seats as imaginary and said the meeting was unnecessary as the Centre had clearly
stated the delimitation exercise would be conducted on pro-rata basis and not based
on population.
Mr Annamalai told reporters here on Saturday evening that he has sent to a letter to
Mr Stalin that the BJP would not participate in the meeting.
Accusing the Chief Minister of spreading “imaginary and baseless fears and
diverting the people's attention to hide the failures of the ruling DMK, he said
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had clarified in 2023 itself that the delimitation
exercise would not be carried out based on population.
He also cited the recent remarks of Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his
Tamil Nadu visit a couple of days back that, the southern states, including Tamil
Nadu, would not lose even a single Parliamentary seat under the exercise to be
carried out under pro-rata basis.
Mr. Annamalai said Mr Stalin has misconstrued the delimitation exercise and
convened the all-party meeting to spread his imaginary fears and deliberately
lie about it even before the means and methods through which the exercise
will be conducted are officially announced.
If Mr.Stalin was afraid of losing Lok Sabha seats under the proposed delimitation
exercise, he should have asked the 39 Lok Sabha MPs of the INDIA bloc to raise
this issue during the Budget session of Parliament.
NTK Founder and actor-director Seeman, an acerbic critic of the ruling DMK, too
said his party would boycott the all party meeting and that his party would fight the
issue on its own way.
UNI GV 1610