Political rivals in TN to come together on March 5 to discuss delimitation

The DMK’s call for an all-party meeting on Wednesday (March 5) to discuss delimitation, proposed by the BJP-led central government, has united close to 40 political parties in the state to speak in one voice. All of them consider delimitation a punishment for the state’s successful implementation of population control measures since the early 1950s.

Except for the BJP and Tamil Manila Congress (Moopanar), a breakaway faction from the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, scores of political parties, including smaller registered parties, have agreed to join the meeting.

Tamil Nadu moves towards population stabilization

If the delimitation exercise is based purely on population, experts say the parliamentary strength from southern states could shrink from 24 per cent to 19 per cent, while Hindi-speaking states will gain about 60 per cent representation. This has increased apprehensions among politicians in the southern states, especially in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, who have contained population growth strictly.

The united fight against delimitation in Tamil Nadu comes at a time when experts say that Tamil Nadu, by 2035, will become the first state in India to achieve population stabilization. The stabilization stage denotes that the size of the population remains unchanged and the birth rate equals the death rate.

It is to be noted that the total fertility rate — the number of children born to women aged between 15 and 49 years — in Tamil Nadu is among the lowest in the country.

Also read: ‘Immediately have babies’: Stalin to newlyweds amid delimitation concerns

Invitations sent

DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has declared that invitations for the all-party meeting have been sent to all 40 political parties registered with the Election Commission (EC) in Tamil Nadu. “A sword is hanging over southern states in the name of delimitation,” he has written in the invitation letter.

“Tamil Nadu succeeded in population control through the family planning programme. Just because the population is low, there is a situation where the Lok Sabha seats are being cut (in TN). We stand to lose eight seats, and as a result, we would have only 31 MPs and not the 39 (present number),” he has written.

“Our representation (in Parliament) will be reduced; Tamil Nadu’s voice is being stifled. This is a matter of Tamil Nadu’s rights. All leaders and political parties should jointly speak across party lines on the issue,” Stalin has written in the letter.

United against delimitation

Even two representatives from the AIADMK, the main opposition party in Tamil Nadu, will take part in the meeting. AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has confirmed to the media that representatives from his party will articulate their position on the delimitation issue at the meeting.

Earlier, the AIADMK had supported resolutions opposing the delimitation process, stating that it could disproportionately affect the representation of Tamil Nadu in Parliament.

Apart from the AIADMK and the Congress, actor-politician Vijay’s TVK and Seeman’s NTK have also declared that they would participate in the meeting. So far, the TVK has not issued any statement on whether Vijay himself will take part in the meeting or he will send a representative. But the participation of either would be significant.

Also read: 'You must know Hindi to buy tea, pani puri, or use toilets in North India': Stalin ups ante

BJP and TMC(M)’s reasons for boycotting meet

Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai has announced the party’s decision to abstain from the meeting, accusing Stalin of spreading “imaginary fears” regarding the delimitation process.

According to Annamalai, since the Union government has made no official announcement about the delimitation exercise, there is no need for Stalin to call an all-party meeting.

Pointing to the assurance given by Union Home Minister Amit Shah that no state would be undermined in the delimitation process, he said Stalin is misconstruing the issue. Annamalai has also questioned the basis of Stalin’s claim that the number of Lok Sabha seats would increase to 848, suggesting that such figures were speculative.

No official announcement

The TMC(M) has echoed its ally BJP, with party president GK Vasan stating that the central government had not made any official announcement regarding the delimitation exercise, making it inaccurate to claim that Tamil Nadu would lose parliamentary seats.

He, too, has referred to Shah’s recent visit to the state and his assurance that no decision had been made on the delimitation exercise.

Vasan has criticized the DMK government for attempting to divert attention from unresolved issues plaguing the state, such as economic challenges, law-and-order concerns, and infrastructure development.

Also read: No Southern state will lose seats: Amit Shah tells Stalin amid delimitation row

Confusion instead of clarity

But DMK parliamentarian Kanimozhi has said Shah’s remark that Tamil Nadu would not lose seats had only “added to the confusion instead of giving clarity”.

“MK Stalin has raised a very valid and important concern regarding delimitation after the census. If delimitation is done on a population basis, states like Tamil Nadu, which have controlled population growth, will lose seats, while states with uncontrolled population growth, like UP or Bihar, will gain more seats,” she has said.

Tamil Nadu BJP Vice-President Narayanan Thirupathy told The Federal that Stalin was trying to divert people to “hide the failure of his government in the past four years”. He said the all-party meeting was not necessary.

“Governance in Tamil Nadu is totally mismanaged. Stalin is trying to divert people’s attention by bringing up all these issues. But the people of Tamil Nadu are well aware of that. This meeting is not necessary,” he told The Federal.