The all-party meeting convened by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to discuss issues related to the delimitation of constituencies will take place on Wednesday at the secretariat here. The BJP, NTK and the Tamil Maanila Congress have decided to boycott the meet.

In an appeal to all political parties, CM Stalin urged them to participate in the discussion, emphasizing that the matter concerned the fundamental rights of Tamil Nadu. The Chief Minister said that invitations have been sent to all the registered political parties of Tamil Nadu.

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The principal opposition party of Tamil Nadu, AIADMK, will attend the meeting. CM Stalin has called upon parties that have chosen to abstain to reconsider their decision, stating that this is not a personal or political issue but one that affects the state as a whole.

The Chief Minister accused the Centre of attempting to impose the three-language policy in Tamil Nadu while also planning to reduce the number of parliamentary constituencies in the state under the guise of delimitation.

He warned that if delimitation is conducted solely based on population figures, Tamil Nadu could lose up to eight Lok Sabha seats, reducing its representation from 39 to 31 MPs. Even if the total number of MPs in the country increases, Tamil Nadu may still suffer from a decline in proportional representation, he argued.

CM Stalin stressed that Tamil Nadu, which has been at the forefront of development indices and effective population control, should not be penalized for its achievements. He described the delimitation exercise as a “Sword of Damocles” hanging over southern states, as it could disproportionately impact those that have successfully controlled population growth.

“As a first step, we are organizing this meeting to bring together all political parties and leaders of Tamil Nadu. I urge all parties to set aside their differences, attend the meeting, and express their views on this critical issue,” he stated.

Despite CM Stalin’s call for unity, several political parties, including the BJP, Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC), and Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK), have chosen to boycott the meeting.

TMC leader and former Union Minister G.K. Vasan criticised the meeting as an attempt to divert public attention from unresolved state issues. He also pointed out that the Central government has not officially announced any decision regarding delimitation. Referring to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent visit to Tamil Nadu on February 25, Vasan noted that Shah had clarified that the Central government had not taken a stance on delimitation and assured that Tamil Nadu’s parliamentary seats would only increase, not decrease.

While TMC opposes the three-language policy and NEET, Vasan accused the DMK-led state government of failing to take a firm stand against these policies.

Tamil Nadu BJP President K. Annamalai also announced his party’s decision to boycott the meeting.

In a letter to Chief Minister Stalin, Annamalai accused him of spreading “imaginary and baseless fears” regarding the delimitation process. “You have misconstrued the delimitation exercise and called for an all-party meeting to propagate imaginary fears and deliberate misinformation, even before the official details of the exercise have been released,” Annamalai wrote.

He further argued that if CM Stalin was genuinely concerned about Tamil Nadu losing parliamentary seats, he should have directed the 39 MPs from the INDIA bloc to raise the issue in Parliament during the Budget session.

Annamalai also alleged that the DMK government was attempting to divert attention from governance failures. “With lawlessness at its peak, governance in disarray, rampant corruption, and policy paralysis, you have chosen to focus on making video reels every day instead of addressing real problems. This entire delimitation controversy is nothing but a figment of your imagination,” he charged.

Delimitation, it may be noted, is the process of fixing the number and boundaries of constituencies for the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies. It is carried out by a Delimitation Commission, established under an Act of Parliament. The allocation of seats is primarily based on population changes, ensuring proportional representation. The process also determines reserved constituencies for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST).

While delimitation is meant to ensure fair representation, concerns have been raised that states with successful population control measures, like Tamil Nadu, may be at a disadvantage if the process is conducted unfairly.

As the political debate over delimitation and the three-language policy intensifies, the outcome of the all-party meeting could play a crucial role in shaping Tamil Nadu’s stance on these issues.