Demanding a freeze on the delimitation exercise for the next three decades, the all-party meeting convened by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday, resolved to form a Joint Action Committee comprising MPs from southern states to create awareness on the adverse impact of delimitation based on population.
The meeting, attended by 40 registered political parties, barring the BJP and two other minor parties, endorsed the resolutions placed by Stalin.
“The Prime Minister must assure in Parliament that the 2000 agreement – where the then Prime Minister guaranteed that constituency distribution would continue to be based on the 1971 population for fairness – will be extended for another 30 years beyond 2026.”
Opposing the population based parliamentary constituency delimitation, another resolution described it as posing “a serious threat to India’s federal structure and the political representation rights of Tamil Nadu and other South Indian states.”
Further, it said “It is completely unjust for Tamil Nadu and other South Indian states to have their parliamentary representation reduced solely because they have successfully implemented population control measures for the country’s benefit.”
The all-party meeting called for a constitutional amendment if increasing the number of MPs is necessary, by addressing the concerns of Southern states.
“If the number of MPs in Parliament is increased, the Union Government must amend the Constitution to ensure that distribution of constituencies among states follows the same proportional ratio as in 1971, thereby preserving Tamil Nadu’s rightful representation,” another resolution read.
While making it clear that Tamil Nadu is not opposed to delimitation in principle, it was pointed out that “it should not be implemented in a way that penalizes states that have successfully implemented social and economic development policies for over five decades.
To carry forward this demand and to take up awareness campaigns among people, the meeting decided to form a Joint-Action Committee (JAC), comprising MPs from Tamil Nadu and other South Indian states. A formal invitation would be sent to relevant political parties for this purpose.
Earlier, speaking at the meeting Stalin described the proposed delimitation exercise as a ‘conspiracy and a Damocles sword hanging over the Southern states and said the number of Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu might go down to 31 from the present 39. If it was carried on a pro-rata basis, the state could get additional 22 seats.
“In this both forms – pro-rata and population-based delimitation – our representation and importance would be reduced and states with higher populations would get a higher number of seats and higher representation. This will stifle the voice of Tamil Nadu,” he said and appealed to all parties to sink differences and join together to secure the legitimate rights of the state.